Former women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate is out of her scheduled bout against Ketlen Vieira.
The two were slated to lock horns on October 16. According to a recent report published by Sherdog, “Cupcake” has been forced out of the contest due to contracting Coronavirus. The former champ returned after a nearly five-year hiatus from the sport.
Before leaving MMA, Tate dropped her comeback fight to Raquel Pennington after losing her title to Amanda Nunes less than four months prior. As a pioneer of women’s MMA, the July return of “Cupcake” was a special moment and she delivered a violent performance against Marion Reneau.
The former champion was able to get the finish in the third round and battered Reneau en route to a ground and pound victory. With an overwhelming desire to expand her winning streak to two, the news is unfortunate considering Tate was expected to headline a Fight Night card in Oct.
In an effort to assure the public, Tate’s manager Josh Jones relayed through ESPN that the 35-year old is in the process of healing and stated that she is “doing ok”. In her ten UFC fights, the former champ has gone 6-4. Meanwhile, her former opponent, Vieira has a record of 5-2 in the UFC. The 29-year old Brazilian was last seen in the Octagon in February against Yana Kunitskaya. The bantamweight lost the fight via unanimous decision.
With the removal of Tate, the UFC card on Oct. 16 will now feature the following bouts.
Holly Holm vs. Norma Dumont
Andrei Arlovski vs. Carlos Felipe
Andrew Sanchez vs. Bruno Silva
Maryna Munoz vs. Luana Carolina
Marcelo Rojo vs. Daniel Santos
Istela Nunes vs. Ariane Carnelossi
Nate Landwehr vs. L’udovit Klein
Jordan Wright vs. Julian Marquez
Da Un Jung vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu
Manon Fiorot vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
All Access MMA wishes Miesha Tate a full and speedy recovery!