Valentina Shevchenko speaks out following Erin Blanchfield vs. Maycee Barber cancellation: "We are professional fighters"

UFC women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko recently gave her thoughts on the last-minute cancellation of the UFC Vegas 107 main event between Erin Blanchfield and Maycee Barber. The bout was canceled due to unspecified medical issues.

Previously, at the weigh-ins, Barber missed the flyweight non-title fight limit by half a pound, leading to the fight becoming a catchweight bout. Barber was to give 20% of her purse to Blanchfield for her infraction. On fight night, however, Barber had a medical emergency backstage right before the walkout, after which the fight was called off.

Talking about the cancellation, Valentina Shevchenko told The Schmo:

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"Of course, every [person] now [is] saying like, the health issue and they are seeing results, right. And definitely we all wish [Barber] like, speedy recovery. The health is number one for every athlete. But let's not forget that we are professional fighters and we have to do everything -- not starting fight week. Not starting one day before the weigh-in. We have to start it back if we know that the weight cut will affect us somehow."

Check out Valentina Shevchenko's comments below (5:10):

Valentina Shevchenko speaks more on Erin Blanchfield vs. Maycee Barber fight cancelation

Valentina Shevchenko then explained how much time the UFC would take to market a fight, creating hype and piquing fans' interest. This is where the promotion upholds its professional integrity. They will do everything to get all the eyes looking at you on fight night. All fighters need to do is make weight and show up.

Shevchenko added:

"You kind of like, think what you have to do to make everyone not disappointed...We have to be professionals and not professional only in the last week. We have to start it like, back back over there, when we just [received our] notice to fight...We start, like, going slowly down our weight cut and if we know it's going to be affected, we have to take some measures to not be affected by circumstances. This is [what] I call professionalism."

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Edited by Subham