Eidy Macias removed from Saturday’s Brave CF 73 fight after positive pregnancy test

Eidy Macias is out of Saturday’s Brave Combat Federation 73 card in Bogota, Colombia, after a pre-fight test indicated that she is pregnant, company officials told MMA Fighting on Friday.

Macias made weight Friday morning for a strawweight contest with Yasmeli Araque in the main card opener at the El Coliseo Salitre arena before learning about the exam. Previous exams came back negative, but the last one that was performed came back positive.

Brave CF could not find a last-minute replacement for Araque and both athletes will be paid their show money, officials said.

“It’s a shock,” Macias said. “A few years ago, we kind of tried to have a baby, but time passed and our dream of me becoming a fighter became stronger than our dream of becoming parents. This is unexpected, because we are always very careful, and I am on birth control. My dream was to become the first Ecuadorian woman to fight at Brave CF and I’m still hopeful I can do that one day. I’ve cried a lot, but I’m calmer now. There’s no doubt in my mind I will return to fighting and I hope to fight for Brave CF when I return. I want to say thanks to Brave CF for taking care of us and I hope to repay that when I fight again.”

Photo via Brave CF

Macias, a 24-year-old from Ecuador, signed with Brave CF after clinching the Inka FC strawweight championship in June, boosting her professional MMA record to 5-0.

Henry Moya, Macias’ head coach and husband, said “we are in shock but happy”, seeing the pregnancy as “a gift for us.” The plan is to resume her career in the future, he said, and the pregnancy “break” will also allow her to heal from injuries “and come back even better.”

“I was still pumped up to go, and ready,” Macias said. “I was very excited to fight for Brave CF because we watch how the event is and how big it is. But when fight week came, we lost our first flight to Bogota, and then on the next day we got robbed in the airport. We lost all suitcases, but I still managed to come in and make weight. That’s how focused and ready I was.”

Araque (4-4) fought once under the Brave CF banner in 2019, losing to future UFC fighter Luana Pinheiro. The Venezuelan fighter has won three of four since.

Brave CF proceeds with eight bouts, headlined by a 135-pound title bout between UFC veteran Jose Torres and Nkosi Ndebele.