Rising UFC women’s flyweight contender Andrea Lee will step in to take on veteran Ashlee Evans-Smith at UFC on ESPN 1 on Feb. 17 from inside Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, per an initial report by MyMMANews.com which was later confirmed by MMA Fighting’s Marc Raimondi.
Lee was expected to take on Jessica Rose-Clark at UFC on FOX 31 earlier this month, but “Jessy Jess” was pulled from the card after she failed to safely cut down to 125 pounds.
Lee, 29, captured a unanimous decision win in her Octagon debut in a Fight of the Night performance opposite Veronica Macedo back at UFC Fight Night 129. The talented striker hasn’t been able to fully demonstrate her skill set inside of the Octagon since coming over from Invicta FC, but this matchup with Evans-Smith on ESPN should give the promotion a good idea of how relevant of a contender “KGB” really is.
Evans-Smith, 31, is coming off an impressive win over former contender Bec Rawlings. The victory ended a two-fight losing streak for Evans-Smith and evened her UFC record out at 3-3. While Evans-Smith isn’t the most dangerous name on the flyweight roster, she’s an extremely durable, well-rounded fighter capable of giving Lee a run for her money. We’ve seen Evans-Smith pull off upsets before so nothing is off the table at this point.
UFC on ESPN 1 will feature a main event between former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and knockout sensation Francis Ngannou.
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