Amanda Nunes on Thursday indicated that UFC 213 could be getting a new fight outside of the ones already announced as its new main event.
While everyone had been operating under the theory that a men’s bantamweight title fight between champion Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw would headline UFC 213 on July 8 in Las Vegas, that idea was tipped on its head last week when Garbrandt indicated the fight might not happen due to a back injury.
UFC president Dana White quickly noted that Garbrandt was being shipped to Germany for medical treatment. White said he would be surprised if it didn’t fix Garbrandt’s troubles, keeping him in the fight.
In that case, it might appear that the women’s bantamweight championship fight between titleholder Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko might take top honors at UFC 213, but as it stands, Nunes indicated that her fight isn’t currently even considered the co-main event.
She appeared to be operating under the idea that the UFC was working on a new main event fight; that Garbrandt vs. Dillashaw would be the co-main event, if it isn’t canceled; and that her fight with Shevchenko would then be next on the list.
“I think the main event is still (a work in progress),” Nunes said during a media luncheon in Las Vegas on Thursday. “I don’t think it’s gonna be Cody and Dillashaw. I think it’s gonna be somebody else. I know, but I can’t say.”
With a sly smile spreading across her face, Nunes didn’t reveal any specifics, but said that, regardless of where her fight landed on the card, she wanted to see Garbrandt and Dillashaw fight.
“If this fight don’t happen, I might go to a co-main event,” Nunes said. “(But) I hope it happens because I want to see this fight. I want to see that fight for sure.”
The UFC has not tipped its hand at what fight might move onto the card and take the main event slot.
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