Nicco Montano has broken her silence for the first time since being stripped of the flyweight title. “The Ultimate Fighter 26” winner released a lengthy statement via Instagram, criticizing both the UFC for taking her belt and proposed opponent Valentina Shevchenko for making statements Montano claims are “completely false.”
“I want to say thank you to all my supporters, unfortunately my first time ever missing weight means the loss of my title that I’ve worked my ass off for,” Montano wrote. “And if you ask me that is completely uncalled for. There have been plenty other fighters who have not been punished for a lot more.