Felicia Spencer was looking forward to fighting Amanda Nunes for the featherweight belt on May 9. Yet, that will no longer be the case after the champion announced she won’t be competing at the event as she can’t train properly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although the news came out on Monday, Spencer said she got told late Friday night the fight was off. When she received a text message telling her she wouldn’t be competing on May 9 she had mixed emotions.

“I was definitely disappointed because when you get a date you work to be ready. In my head, I was preparing to fight in three weeks. We’ve been jumping through hoops to be ready, doing things on my own. I was ready to get the fight done and go along my way. It was disappointing that it would be extended,” Spencer said to BJPENN.com. “It’s also not extended to the point where I can just relax, it’s just a few more weeks like another month. Maybe I’m six weeks out, maybe I’m seven weeks out, it’s not far enough away that I can pull back. It is going to be an extended camp. I’ll be training for this fight for like 11 weeks now.”

What makes it more difficult for Felicia Spencer is the fact she doesn’t know when the fight will happen. She jumped into this fight camp immediately after her UFC Norfolk win, so she says this delay will have a negative impact on her body.

“I think it is harder on my body as I had an eight-week fight camp for Norfolk. I then had two weeks off got the fight offer and had another eight-week camp,” she explained. “Now, I’m just going to have to stay in camp and be in it for an undermined amount of time. It may be a 12 or a 15-week camp and that will be harder on my body. I can’t take a break right now because I’ll be fighting in June probably. It’s too late to take a break so it would’ve been nice to know a month ago, so if she had no intention of fighting on May 9 I wish she would’ve said it sooner. It is what it is.”

Spencer says the UFC has told her early June is the ideal time for the fight to take place. She also hopes they will become the main event and add more eyes to the scrap.

Although she was prepared to fight on May 9 she says there was no talk of an interim title fight or taking another fight on the event. So, the plan is to still fight Amanda Nunes for the featherweight title sometime soon.

“There was never any talk of that. I don’t think the fans would want that either. With the fight with Amanda being maybe just postponed a month, an interim title wouldn’t be the right move,” Spencer concluded. “I don’t want an interim fight, I want Amanda and sooner rather than later.”

What do you make of Felicia Spencer’s response to Amanda Nunes announcing she won’t fight on May 9?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/21/2020.