UFC Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes and number one contender Valentina Shevchenko were supposed to meet in the main event of UFC 213 as the culmination of the promotion’s international fight week. Instead, a fight day bout of sinusitis sent Nunes to the hospital and forced her to pull out of the fight.

Tickets for UFC 215: JOHNSON vs. BORG go on sale Friday, July 28.

The pair will now meet at UFC 215 in Edmonton on September 9th though, true to his word, UFC president Dana White rescheduled the bout in a co-main event slot having said that he would not put the title fight at the top of a card again.

Nunes says she isn’t concerned with where her match with Shevchenko falls in the bout order.

“I want to fight this girl, I want to fight Valentina, that’s the only thing that I want now,” Nunes told TSN.ca. “It doesn’t matter; it can be the first fight on the card. I’m a fighter, I want to step in the cage and fight, it doesn’t matter if it’s on the undercard or the main card.”

Nunes took a lot of heat surrounding the card not only from White, who said she was medically cleared to compete, but also from fans, prompting her to release a statement about the incident. She was taken a little aback by the reaction to the decision to pull out of the fight.

“I don’t know why people were surprised, because if I was sick I wouldn’t lie about it, I would be honest,” said Nunes. “I called Dana White and I told him that I couldn’t breathe, I’m not 100% and my head is killing me and I won’t be able to take a hit in the head. I was concerned about my health, I wouldn’t pull out of a fight because I’m scared, I’m only concerned about my health but I don’t think he understood that.”

On top of trying to return to fight shape, Nunes also has to prepare to face a fighter that is riding a two fight winning streak over tough competition, though one that she already defeated, in a UFC 196 fight that went the distance.

“Valentina is a tough opponent, I beat her by unanimous decision, a lot of people talk about that fight and she said if it went two more rounds, but that fight was supposed to be three rounds and I trained for three rounds, this time I trained for five rounds,” said Nunes.

“Whatever happens I’m going to go for the finish and I know she’s evolved a lot, she’s coming off two big wins over Holly Holm and Julianna Pena. She’s the right contender and I’m happy to be fighting her again so I can make this clear.”

For Nunes, being a UFC champion is about more than just holding the gold but keeping it as she represents her people and the country of Brazil.

“I means a lot, my whole life I’ve been working for this moment and I’ve been working hard to get here and finally I get here and I’ve been able to be a champion and defend and prove that I’m the best,” said Nunes. “I want to keep this belt at home with me and this is also for my nation and I’m happy to be here and be the only Brazilian champion, I love everything that is happening right now.”