Amanda Nunes Out Of May 9 UFC Title Fight

The UFC lost one of the three title fights it has planned for May 9. On Monday, two-division women’s champion Amanda Nunes announced that she would not out compete on the card and that she was withdrawing from her featherweight title fight against Felicia Spencer. 

“Actually, I’m not fighting May 9,” Nunes told CBS Sports on Monday. “I’m going to fight, (but) 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, (but) let’s see what is going to happen. But I’m not fighting (May 9).”

The UFC announced the Nunes vs Spencer bout in early March. The scrap was initially booked for UFC 250 in Brazil. The UFC cancelled that card because of the global coronavirus pandemic. However, the promotion kept the fight on the books for May 9 when it expects to hold an event at a location that has yet to be disclosed.

Nunes has been training at American Top Team in Florida, but the gym is only open to a few professional fighters and that has limited her training for the Spencer bout.

“The gym opened just for people that has fights coming up,” Nunes said. “It’s not many people, just me and a couple guys that are going to be on the same card as me. We all have separate training with just me and my coach, one on one.”

“I keep in shape like that. I go to the gym only one time in the morning and do everything. I do a couple of things by myself and some things that I need a coach. Then I come home and I really do everything I need to keep in shape. I have a treadmill and some weights.”

Nunes captured the women’s 145-pound title in December 2018 with a 51-second knockout win over Cris Cyborg. Since that victory, Nunes has twice defended her bantamweight title. The Spencer matchup was to be Nunes’ first defense of her 145-pound crown.

Despite her withdrawal, Nunes remains hopeful that the UFC will book her opposite Spencer.

“I like this matchup a lot,” Nunes said. “I like to fight girls like her — tough, want to fight all the time, she’s not a running fighter. She’s really going to bring that and I love it. That brings out the best in me.”