Nicco Montano has broken her silence after getting released from the UFC earlier this week.
Montano (4-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) was cut from the promotion after missing the bantamweight limit by seven pounds for last Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 28 bout against Wu Yanan, resulting in the fight getting scrapped.
That marked the third time Montano had missed weight, prompting the UFC to release her. The 32-year-old former women’s flyweight champion hasn’t competed since dropping a unanimous decision to current title challenger Julianna Pena in July 2019.
On Thursday night, Montano took to Instagram to react to the news of her release.
“Down but never out… Seems to be the story of my career but for better or for worse I’m in the thicc [sic] of it and MMA is how I started my personal growth and I will never give up on me,” she wrote. “It has brought me the highest of highs and lowest of lows and if it ain’t that, am I really living..?”
Montano is no stranger to adversity. She entered Season 26 of “The Ultimate Fighter” as a relatively unknown flyweight and managed to make a statement right off the bat by upsetting Lauren Murphy. She went on to defeat Montana De La Rosa and Barb Honchak, en route to a finals showdown with veteran Roxanne Modafferi. Montano defeated Modafferi to win the show, becoming the inaugural UFC women’s 125-pound champion in 2017.
But after her Cinderella story on TUF, things went downhill for Montano. She was scheduled to defend her title against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 228 but was transported to the hospital prior to the weigh-ins after struggling with her cut. She was subsequently stripped of her title. Montano then tested positive for ostarine and was suspended six months by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency retroactive to October 2018.
An array of injuries, COVID-related withdrawals and weight misses would paint the picture of the rest of Montano’s UFC journey, where she only competed once since winning TUF in December 2017. But the UFC’s first Navajo champion won’t be deterred, showing no signs of giving up despite her turbulent octagon career.
“Rolling with the punches,” she wrote.
Nicco Montano won’t give up after UFC release: ‘Down but never out’