Julianna Pena Steps Up To Face Nicco Montano At UFC Sacramento
Sara McMann is out and Julianna Pena is in for UFC Sacramento.
Former UFC women’s flyweight champion Nicco Montano was scheduled to take on McMann on the UFC Sacramento card. McMann revealed on her Instagram account that she injured herself during training and can’t compete on July 13. As a result, she has been pulled from the card.
Here’s what McMann had to say on her removal:
https://www.instagram.com/p/By3vqVgp2VK/?utm_source=ig_embed
“Welp, I’m pretty bummed to announce that I won’t be fighting on the July card in Sacramento. MMA training demands so much from the body and it pains me to concede that I just wasn’t able to get it properly prepared for the fight. So after learning the hard way (getting injured) I am taking a short time to focus on getting my body healthy and strong enough to withstand the brutal toll that must be paid to be in this sport. Thank you to my team for supporting me 100% and thanks to all of my friends and fans for being a little more patient for my return.”
Sources close to the situation have confirmed to MMAFighting.com that Julianna Pena is expected to take McMann’s place. This will be Pena’s first bout since Jan. 2017. She suffered a submission loss to current 125-pound ruler Valentina Shevchenko. Pena took some time off as she was pregnant.
It’s been a while since fight fans saw Montano inside the Octagon as well. She hasn’t fought since Dec. 2017. She was scheduled to defend her gold against Shevchenko in Sept. 2018, but was stripped of the title when she couldn’t weigh in. Montano was also dealing with injuries.
