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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White dropped a 125-pound bomb on the mixed martial arts (MMA) media on Friday, announcing a pair of flyweight title fights that pit Deiveson Figueiredo against Cody Garbrandt and Valentina Shevchenko opposite Jennifer Maia.
That’s the word from ESPN.
The flyweight main and co-main events are expected to top the UFC 255 pay-per-view (PPV) fight card, taking place on Sat., Nov. 21, 2020 at a venue and location to be determined. As we mentioned in this previous fight announcement, the two (and perhaps only) leading candidates are UFC APEX in Las Vegas and Flash Arena on Yas Island.
Figueiredo (19-1) captured the vacant 125-pound strap with a devastating finish over Joseph Benavidez last month on “Fight Island.” As for Garbrandt (12-3), he’ll be dropping down from the bantamweight division — where he previously held a world title — after finishing Raphael Assuncao at UFC 250 back in June.
So much for being “fair.”
As for Shevchenko (19-3), an injury prevented her from defending her flyweight belt against Joanne Calderwood earlier this year, forcing “JoJo” into a title eliminator opposite Maia (18-6-1). The move blew up in her face, as the Brazilian was able to score a first-round submission and take over the open slot against “Bullet.”
No other match ups have been announced for Nov. 21 at this time, but you can expect more names to start trickling in over the next few weeks, if not sooner.