Joanne Calderwood: Valentina Shevchenko fight ‘pushed back’

Joanne Calderwood says her UFC 251 flyweight title fight with champion Valentina Shevchenko, scheduled for June 6 in Perth, Australia, has been postponed — but shockingly not because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Calderwood divulged this new info on MMA Fighting’s Eurobash podcast.

“We got word last week that it’s going to get pushed back,” Calderwood said (transcript via Peter Carroll of MMA Fighting).

“Not because of this whole thing, but something on her end,” Calderwood clarified. “I’m not sure if I’m supposed to say that, but we know for sure that it’s not going to be on June 6. I don’t know, I’m not sure what happened or what’s what, but it’s been pushed back. It could be a blessing in disguise.”

At present, it’s not clear why this title fight has been pushed back. That being said, Calderwood has found a silver lining in the fact that she’ll likely be able to avoid having to fly all the way to Australia for a fight.

“We were planning to go two weeks before and I think it’s 24 hours flying time, so you’re talking two days of travel, but I love Australia so I wasn’t going to complain about that,” Calderwood said.

“It’s a great country and I know that there are a lot of U.K. and Scottish people over there, so I’m just hoping now it will be in the U.S. and it will be closer for everyone to meet in the middle.”

Calderwood last fought in September, when she defeated Andrea Lee by split decision to earn her shot at Shevchenko. Shevchenko, meanwhile, last defended her title with a lopsided win over Katlyn Chookagian.

Where and when do you think the flyweight title fight between Joanne Calderwood and Valentina Shevchenko will happen?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/31/2020.