Nicco Montano’s voice has been heard with the filmmakers behind a documentary covering her career now agreeing to blur out a scene where her nude body was exposed.
Warrior Spirit director Landon Dyksterhouse has confirmed that he will blur out a scene in his film where Montano was exposed as she was cutting weight for a scheduled fight against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 228 in 2018.
“Nicco was offered every opportunity to see the film and flag anything objectionable and didn’t flag anything, however, we respect Nicco and have willingly gone forward and will take steps to blur the scene, Dyksterhouse said in a statement first issued to MyMMANews.com. “We stand by the film and regret any issues this has caused.
“Throughout the rollout of Warrior Spirit, the goal has been to shed light around improving conditions for all UFC fighters, including weight cutting protocol, fighter pay, health insurance, and overall well-being.”
Montano recently appeared on The Fighter vs. The Writer where she expressed her objections to the scene being included in the film against her wishes.
While she still hasn’t had the opportunity to actually view the documentary, Montano didn’t appreciate any nudity being placed into the film. She said it had nothing to do with the actual story about her career after becoming the first-ever Native American UFC champion.
“I hear that it’s a great documentary, and it’s winning awards and stuff,” Montano said. “But just the fact that the documentary talks about Native Americans being exploited and the whole genocide with the government and how UFC fighters are exploited by the UFC. It’s just very hypocritical for them to be saying all this because I’m definitely exploited here.
“I never said it was OK for me to be exposed on film and when I asked about them taking it down, they just said I don’t know what you’re talking about, it’s a good film, everyone loves how impactful it is. Like OK, you’re deflecting. I still don’t want to be exposed for anyone to see cause I’m not getting any royalties, I’m not getting any kickbacks from this documentary. Like nothing.”
Initially, Dyksterhouse had defended the use of the nudity in the film, saying it was “absolutely part of the narrative arc” of the story that Montano was exposed during a brutal weight cut for her first title defense.
Now, it appears the footage will be altered so the nudity is blurred out for future viewings of the documentary.
