Report | UFC eyeing Nicco Montano vs. Valentina Shevchenko title fight for Calgary main event

Earlier today, the UFC announced a slew of bouts for UFC on FOX 30, which goes down on July 28 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Though these announcements included news of a Jose Aldo vs. Jeremy Stephens featherweight co-main event, they did not include any news about the card’s main event.

According to Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting, however, the promotion’s tentative plan is to top the card with a women’s flyweight title fight between long-absent inaugural champion Nicco Montano, and ferocious challenger Valentina Shevchenko.

The UFC’s long-awaited return to Calgary is officially official. No main event announced, though I’m told the hope is to book Nicco Montaño vs. Valentina Shevchenko for the women’s flyweight title in that spot. Not finalized yet but that’s what they want. https://t.co/yEN7el8vYZ

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 27, 2018

“The UFC’s long-awaited return to Calgary is officially official,” Helwani explained in Friday morning Tweet. “No main event announced, though I’m told the hope is to book Nicco Montaño vs. Valentina Shevchenko for the women’s flyweight title in that spot. Not finalized yet but that’s what they want.”

The UFC’s first-ever female flyweight champion, Nicco Montano has not fought since December, when she captured the title with a decision defeat of WMMA pioneer Roxanne Modafferi. Her next most recent fight occurred in January of 2017, when she gave up a decision to Julia Avila. Montano is 4-2 as a pro.

Valentina Shevchenko, meanwhile, recently made her debut in the women’s flyweight division with a lopsided destruction of Priscila Cachoeira. This win was preceded by a closely contested loss to reigning UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes. Shevchenko is currently a strong 15-3 overall, with her only losses coming to Nunes and former title challenger Liz Carmouche.

Here is the UFC Calgary lineup as it stands so far:

Jose Aldo vs. Jeremy Stephens – featherweight co-main event
Alexis Davis vs. Katlyn Chookagian – women’s flyweight
Randa Markos vs. Nina Ansaroff – strawweight
Dustin Ortiz vs. Mattheus Nicolau – flyweight
Gadzhimurad Antigulov vs. Ion Cutelaba – light-heavyweight
Hakeem Dawodu vs. Austin Arnett – featherweight
Jordan Mein vs. Alex Morono – welterweight
John Makdessi vs. Ross Pearson – lightweight
Kajan Johnson vs. Islam Makhachev – lightweight

Do you think Nicco Montano can defend her title against the fearsome Valentina Shevchenko?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/27/2018.