Report: Nicco Montano Hospitalized; Valentina Shevchenko UFC 228 Bout Canceled

UFC women's flyweight champion Nicco Montano has been hospitalized for an undisclosed reason, ESPN's Ariel Helwani reported Friday morning.

Montano's scheduled fight Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 228 in Dallas on Saturday has since been cancelled, according to Brett Okamoto of ESPN.          

Helwani also noted there are "ongoing" discussions over potential options.

This comes just one day after Shevchenko made it clear she had doubts that she would actually get to fight Montano:

Helwani also posted video of Montano on Thursday talking about how she embraces her underdog role:

Montano may be the current flyweight champ, but she doesn't have much experience. The 29-year-old is 5-2, most recently defeating Roxanne Modafferi via unanimous decision in The Ultimate Fighter 26 in December 2017.

Meanwhile, Shevchenko, 30, is the top-ranked women's flyweight. She is 15-3 overall, defeating Priscila Cachoeira via second-round submission at UFC Fight Night in Brazil back in February. According to Helwani, Shevchenko weighed in at 124.5 pounds Friday.