The UFC is planning to restart its matches on May 9 after a string of coronavirus-related cancellations, but the league will have to do so without top fighter Amanda Nunes.
Nunes, 31, told CBS Sports she will not be fighting in the match against Felicia Spencer, in which Nunes would have been defending her UFC women’s featherweight title.
“I don’t think this is the right time for me right now to fight,” she said Monday. “Let this coronavirus pass a little bit so I can at least have a full camp. We can maybe see around June, let’s see what is going to happen. But I’m not fighting.”
Nunes is also the UFC’s women’s bantamweight champion, making her the first woman in the league to win titles in two different weight classes. She has the most wins and most title-fight wins among women in UFC history.
Though Nunes has been able to continue training amid the coronavirus, her home gym, American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, has been operating under new social distancing protocols.
“The gym opened just for people that has fights coming up,” said Nunes, who is expecting a child with her fianceè and fellow fighter, Nina Ansaroff. “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,” she continued. “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.”
Spencer emphasized that while she plans to be ready for June, she will not remain on the May 9 card, according to ESPN. UFC will pivot to a new event on May 9 that has yet to be announced.
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