Nicco Montaño is no longer the UFC women’s flyweight champion according to Dana White. The UFC president made the statement Friday on the FS1 UFC 228 weigh-in show after Montaño was taken to the hospital Friday morning, stopping her weight cut short. Montaño’s title defense against Shevchenko was cancelled later in the morning.
White told interviewer Megan Olivi that the flyweight title is now vacant and Shevchenko will fight another opponent for the belt soon. White said that title bout will happen “before the end of the year.”
“The belt becomes vacated,” White said. “So, the title is vacated. Obviously, Shevchenko is dying to fight for this title. So we’re in the process right now of trying to make another fight.”
Montaño won the title last December by defeating Roxanne Modafferi in the inaugural UFC women’s flyweight title bout at the TUF 26 Finale. This would have been her first title defense after a year with injuries and illnesses. While cutting weight Friday morning, Montaño’s teammate Steve Hanna told MMA Fighting in a statement that the UFC medical said she should stop cutting weight and she was transported to the hospital due to kidney issues.
“She will be fine in a few days,” Hanna said in the statement. “The UFC medical team was called in to evaluate her this morning during the process of her weight cut. They determined that she had to cease cutting weight and be transported to and treated at the local hospital for issues regarding her kidney function.”
Shevchenko earned a title shot by beating Priscila Cachoeira last February in her UFC debut at 125 pounds.