COVID cancels Amanda Nunes vs Julianna Pena title fight at UFC 265

Reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, who also wears gold at 145 pounds, was pulled from her upcoming title defense opposite Julianna Pena in the UFC 265 co-main event on Aug. 7 in Houston, Texas.

UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell told ESPN that “Lioness” will be rebooked against “The Venezuelan Vixen” at a later date. With recovery timelines different from case-to-case, it’s still too early to estimate when Nunes will be ready to return.

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MASSIVE MIDDLEWEIGHT MATCH! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) makes its highly anticipated return to Sydney, Australia, for the first time in five years on Sat., Sept. 9, 2023, with a 185-pound world title fight inside Qudos Bank Arena. In the ESPN+-streamed pay-per-view (PPV) main event, Middleweight roost-ruler, Israel Adesanya, plans to silence No. 5-seeded contender, Sean Strickland. In UFC 293’s hard-hitting Heavyweight co-main event, No-6-ranked fan favorite, Tai Tuivasa, locks horns with towering Russian, Alexander Volkov (No. 8).

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In addition to Nunes, her wife Nina and daughter Raegan also tested positive for COVID, according to MMA Junkie, but did not indicate the severity of their symptoms. Hopefully they fare a little better than Khamzat Chimaev.

UFC 265 will be headlined by the heavyweight interim title fight pitting Derrick Lewis opposite Ciryl Gane. With just over a week to go until fight night, the promotion will likely slide an existing bout into the co-main event.

The bantamweight showdown between Jose Aldo and Pedro Munhoz would certainly be a worthy addition, as would the welterweight banger between Michael Chiesa and Vicente Luque, though nothing is official at the time.

For the revised UFC 265 fight card and PPV line up click here.