Fight fans were dealt a major blow just hours before the UFC 213 event on Saturday night, as news quickly spread that Amanda Nunes wouldn’t be defending her bantamweight championship against Valentina Shevchenko.Rumours quickly turned into confirmation on social media, after it was revealed that The Lioness had been hospitalised and it saw the interim middleweight championship clash between Yoel Romero and Robert Whitaker get bumped up to the main event.

PULLED OUT

While the UFC will perhaps try to rearrange this fight as soon as they can, a surprising name threw her name into the hat, offering to replace Nunes at the last-minute to go up against The Bullet.

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It was revealed that current UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk offered to step in and compete at the higher weight class to battle Shevchenko, but for obvious reasons, it didn’t come to fruition.

The 29-year-old is arguably the greatest female fighter on the planet today, picking up 14 straight wins without tasting defeat and has defended her crown on five occasions – so she showed off just how much of a warrior she is by campaigning on social media to step in and put her impeccable record on the line on short notice.

It wasn’t just speculation either, as MMA Junkie’s John Morgan revealed that UFC president Dana White had told him that Joanna had begged, but that NSAC would never allow it to happen.

He posted on Twitter: “Just spoke with @danawhite, and he said @joannamma was begging him to step in and take the fight. NSAC would never allow, but #gangster.”

The Polish star first took to Instagram to ask for the fight, posting: “Come on Dana, come on UFC. Make it happen. Talk to the commission. Let’s have the medicals done. This is your city. Come on Dana, make it happen. I’m in shape.”

REPLACEMENT

Joanna Champion also spoke during a live stream about wanting to step in, claiming that she wasn’t in fighting shape but would break Shevchenko if it came to it – even Ronda Rousey got a shout out in the process.

She said: “OK guys – I just got phone call from Dana, and of course I’m not in shape to fight, 100 percent.

“But I’m going to be honest with you, if they want me, they need me today, I step into the octagon today. Tonight, I just break Valentina. And I feel sorry to her. Of course, Amanda is sick, it sucks. (Expletive) happens sometimes.

“But yeah. So guys, train hard, train smart, and prepare well for the fight. I will see you later. Let me keep some training. And best regard to Ronda Rousey. I’m so sorry I could come today. Wish I could meet you, you the champ.”

Based on what Shevchenko later posted on Twitter, it seems like she’s up for battling Joanna down the line, having beaten her three times during their Muay Thai days.

While Joanna later revealed that it all came down to a pregnancy test – as they needed 72 hours to get the result they needed – this just goes to show that she’s a true warrior and a true champion.

What do you make of Joanna Jedrzejczyk offering to step in at UFC 213? Have YOUR say in the comments section below.

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