As first posted on the UG by the never not awesome Card, the UFC reports that UFC strawweight Nina Ansaroff contracted the flu. She was declared medically unfit to fight by doctors, so the bout with Rosa Namajunas at UFC 187 on Saturday has been canceled.
Ansaroff weighed in on Friday at 120 pounds, four pounds over the division’s non-title fight limit of 116. Out of concern for her health, Ansaroff’s nutritionists from Perfecting Athletes, did not let her complete the weight cut. The fight had been scheduled to take place at a catchweight, and despite being ill, Ansaroff was determined to compete.
“I feel just horrible about this,” said Ansaroff. “I want to apologize to Rose, the UFC and of course to the fans who have really embraced me and looked forward to this fight. If it was up to me, I’d definitely fight. I was willing to fight, of course, with or without the flu because I’m a fighter. But this is out of my control and I just hope it’s rescheduled as soon as possible.”
Ansaroff’s manager former UFC fighter Charles McCarthy spoke with Elias Cepeda for FOX Sports, and provided details.
“Nina got the flu last week, and she didn’t get the chance to fully recover from it before it was time to start cutting weight,” explained McCarthy.
“So, when she started cutting weight, it made the flu worse. We hired Perfecting Athletes, the same specialists who work with Chris Weidman for his weight cuts, and so they’ve been working with Nina and monitoring her. We were extremely excited to fight on arguably the best card of the year. Nina is frustrated, because she showed up to fight and battled through the flu to try and make it happen.
“While I share her frustration, we are in complete agreement with the UFC doctors that her health is most important. Nina began fainting during her weight cut. That’s when we were told that she should stop cutting weight and why she weighed in at 120 pounds. We hoped she’d feel better today, but she hasn’t been able to keep down two bags of IV fluid, and she’s about the same weight she was on the scales yesterday. She’s shivering in bed right now. We’re thankful of the UFC staff for being supportive. We hope that Nina gets to fight Rose on another card next.”
