Skip to main content

The card for August 7th’s UFC 265 event Houston, Texas has taken a blow after the co-main event fight between women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes and challenger Juliana Pena is off.

Initial reports indicate that Nunes has bene diagnosed with Covid-19, forcing the cancellation of the fight. The UFC are hoping to reschedule the title fight for later in the year.

This is a big loss to the card which is scheduled to be headlined by an interim heavyweight title match between Ciryl Gane and Derrick Lewis, with another main card fight between Jose Aldo and Pedro Munhoz now presumably moving up to the co-main event slot.

The other element to consider is that due to Nunes’ status as a double-champ, this will also likely hold up with the women’s featherweight fold — though the delay could well allow time for a new 145-pound contender to emerge.