Irene Aldana releases statement on UFC 264 weight miss: ‘My body stopped’

Irene Aldana has made her first public statement since missing weight on Friday ahead of UFC 264.

Aldana, No. 4 on MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings, came in at 139.5 pounds, 3.5 pounds over the women’s bantamweight limit for her main card matchup with Yana Kunitskaya. The fight will move forward on Saturday with Aldana forfeiting 30 percent of her purse to Kunitskaya.

Following the first weight miss of her career, Aldana released a statement via her Twitter and issued an apology to Kunitskaya, the UFC, and the fans.

“In all my career this is the first time I had missed weight, I tried hard and push my body to the limit. But it stopped sweating,” Aldana stated. “Got my menstrual cycle during fight week and I’m sure my body stopped because of that.”

After picking up wins over Vanessa Melo and Ketlen Vieira, Aldana was a win away from a title shot before dropping a unanimous decision to Holly Holm in the main event of October’s UFC Fight Island 4 event.

Kunitskaya, No. 6 in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings, enters the fight as a winner in two straight and four of five.