Megan Anderson reacts after UFC featherweight title shot falls through

Megan Anderson has shared her initial reaction after her planned crack at UFC featherweight champ Amanda Nunes fell through.

Anderson was expected to challenge Nunes for the featherweight belt at UFC 256 on December 12. Unfortunately, Nunes has been forced to withdraw from the matchup with an injury.

Per sources, Amanda Nunes vs. Megan Anderson title fight at UFC 256 next month is off. More info to @ESPN shortly.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) November 9, 2020

Anderson shared her thoughts on this disappointing development shortly after the news surfaced.

💔💔💔

— Megan Anderson (@MeganA_mma) November 9, 2020

Wishing Amanda a speedy recovery 🙏🏻UFC are rescheduling the bout for a date early next year.

The goal remains the same 👊🏻 We’ll be ready.. https://t.co/APZt4zUkS0

— Megan Anderson (@MeganA_mma) November 9, 2020

“Wishing Amanda a speedy recovery,” Anderson wrote. “UFC are rescheduling the bout for a date early next year. The goal remains the same. We’ll be ready.”

Megan Anderson earned her UFC 256 title shot against Nunes with a pair of first-round wins over Zarah Fairn and Norma Dumont—a submission and a knockout respectively. Prior to those wins, she was defeated by recent featherweight title challenger Felicia Spencer by decision.

Amanda Nunes, meanwhile, is widely regarded as the greatest female fighter in MMA history. The two-division champ is currently on an incredible 11-fight unbeaten streak. She has beaten every other woman to wear UFC gold at featherweight or bantamweight—Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, Cris Cyborg, Holly Holm, and Germaine de Randamie (twice). She also holds a pair of wins over Valentina Shevchenko, who currently reigns over the UFC women’s flyweight division. Heading into her fight with Anderson, she was a significant betting favorite.

With this Nunes vs. Anderson matchup scratched, UFC 256 is now likely to be headlined by a men’s bantamweight title fight between champion Petr Yan and challenger Aljamain Sterling, which was originally slated to serve as the co-main event.

Here’s the UFC 256 lineup as it currently stands.

• Amanda Nunes vs. Felicia Spencer — for the UFC women’s featherweight title
• Petr Yan (c) vs. Aljamain Sterling — for the UFC men’s bantamweight title
• Marvin Vettori vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
• Junior dos Santos vs. Ciryl Gane
• Mackenzie Dern vs. Virna Jandiroba
• Dwight Grant vs. Li Jingliang
• Tecia Torres vs. Angela Hill
• Chase Hooper vs. Peter Barrett
• Billy Quarantillo vs. Gavin Tucker
• Dacha Lungiambula vs. Karl Roberson
• Sergey Spivak vs. Jared Vanderaa

What was your initial reaction to the cancelation of this Nunes vs. Anderson fight?