Calderwood Loses Consciousness Following Loss, Rushed To Hospital

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After her first round loss to Jennifer Maia at the UFC APEX, Calderwood fainted and was taken to hospital with a lowered heart rate.

Joanne Calderwood’s return to competition after 11 months ended badly after the #3 ranked women’s flyweight was submitted 4:29 into the first round by Jennifer Maia at UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Shahbazyan.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Calderwood passed out backstage following the loss and had to be taken to the hospital.

“She’s okay now,” Calderwood’s manager Danny Rubenstein told MMA Fighting. “She was getting checked out in the medical room and fainted while sitting down. John caught her, they laid her down and carted her out on a stretcher. Heart rate dropped on the way there but stabilized now. She’s awake at the hospital with [coach and fiance John] Wood.”

It’s undoubtedly a disappointing turn of events for JoJo, who was supposed to fight Valentina Shevchenko for the women’s flyweight title in June before the champ injured her knee and was forced to withdraw from the bout. The UFC offered her Jennifer Maia on less than two weeks notice after Maia’s original opponent pulled out, and now Calderwood has undoubtedly lost her #1 contender spot and has a worrisome medical incident on her resume as well.

Interestingly enough, Joanne Calderwood wasn’t the only fighter to faint at the UFC APEX on Saturday night. Trevin Giles also lost consciousness moments before the walkout for his fight against Kevin Holland. Commission doctors suspect it was an anxiety related issue.

There’s still no word from Calderwood’s camp on what could have caused her to lose consciousness, but short notice fights often lead to harsher weight cuts which could have exacerbated the situation. For her part, Joanne claimed it was the “easiest weight cut I’ve done, I know it’s short notice and a risk but I was ready and I’m still ready to bang bro!”

Jennifer Maia pocketed a $50,000 performance of the night bonus for her slick armbar of Calderwood, and during the post-fight press conference Dana White confirmed she was the new #1 contender at 125 pounds.

“I have a lot of respect for JoJo,” White said. “She’s been working hard and taking her career very serious, and has been back on track since she moved to Vegas. Jennifer looked damn good tonight, so yeah it makes sense for her and Valentina to fight.”