Amanda Nunes will not be fighting Felicia Spencer on May 9 at UFC 249 but it does not necessarily mean the two won’t be fighting sometime soon.
Nunes revealed this through an interview with Brian Campbell of CBS Sports.
“Actually, I’m not fighting May 9. I’m going to fight. I don’t know yet. I don’t think this is the right time for me right now to fight. Let this coronavirus pass a little bit so I can at least have a full camp. We can maybe see around June. Let’s see what is going to happen. But I’m not fighting (May 9),” said Nunes.
The two were supposed to headline UFC 250 at Sao Paulo, Brazil. But the venue was converted into a temporary hospital for victims of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The fight was then scheduled to co-headline the May 9 card with the UFC Lightweight match between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. But that plan has apparently been scrubbed after Nunes’ pronouncement.
Spencer was likewise hopeful that the fight will still push through, probably at a later date. She told ESPN that UFC instructed her to be ready for a fight in June.
Nunes will be protecting a five-year undefeated streak. She will defend her Featherweight title for the first time when she faces Spencer. She claimed the title by knocking out Cris Cyborg in the first round of UFC 232 on December 29, 2018.
Spencer said she was bitterly disappointed that she won’t be fighting Nunes on May 9.
“In my head, I was preparing to fight in three weeks. We’ve been jumping through hoops to be ready, doing things on my own. I was ready to get the fight done and go along my way. It was disappointing that it would be extended,” Spencer told BJPENN.com.
“It’s also not extended to the point where I can just relax, it’s just a few more weeks like another month. Maybe I’m six weeks out, maybe I’m seven weeks out, it’s not far enough away that I can pull back. It is going to be an extended camp. I’ll be training for this fight for like 11 weeks now.”