MMA

TUF 26 Finale: Sijara Eubanks misses weight, Roxanne Modafferi to fight for Flyweight Championship

Published

5 years ago

November 30, 2017

Due to a competitor missing weight for tomorrow night’s TUF 26 tournament finale, MMA veteran and 2-time TUF competitor Roxanne Modafferi (21-13) will now face Nicco Montano (3-2) to crown the first UFC women’s flyweight champion in history.

The UFC released the following statement in regards today’s breaking news:

Due to medical issues, Sijara Eubanks was hospitalized Thursday morning and has been pulled from her bout against Nicco Montano at Friday’s The Ultimate Fighter Finale. Stepping in for Eubanks to fight in the inaugural UFC women’s flyweight championship bout will be Ultimate Fighter 26 semifinalist Roxanne Modafferi.

Eubanks (2-2) earned herself the opportunity of a lifetime. She took out the #1, #4, and #5 seeds in a 16-woman tournament to secure a shot at an inaugural UFC world title. After being hospitalized due to weight cutting complications ahead of today’s 11 a.m. deadline to make championship weight, her future at 125 lbs is now up in the air.

Eubanks defeated Modafferi via unanimous decision in the last semi-final of the tournament to earn her title shot against Montano, the #14 seed in the competition, setting up a final that on paper was as intriguing as it was unlikely. Montano will now face Modafferi in a fight that provides just as much intrigue — just in a much different way.

It was announced last night that Modafferi would face former Invicta FC flyweight champ Barb Honchak in a battle of the top two seeds on the show. It’s been reported that Honchak will still remain on the card following Modafferi’s promotion to the main event.

UPDATE: Honchak will now face TUF 26’s Lauren Murphy who was on standby as a potential replacement.