The UFC card on August 1 at the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada has a new main event. Former bantamweight champion Holly Holm was expected to headline the event against surging contender Irene Alanda but that fight will now take place at a later date according to UFC boss Dana White.
Holm got back into the win column last time out dominating Raquel Pennington over three rounds. Prior to that, she came up short against the GOAT of women’s MMA, Amanda Nunes.
Aldana has picked up back-to-back wins in her past two UFC fights. The 32-year-old Mexican beat Vanessa Melo over three rounds before putting on a career best performance to knock out the previously unbeaten Ketlen Vieira.
The UFC president made the announcement during an Instagram live chat with retired bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. He revealed Holm vs. Alanda was off but gave no specific reason as to why. White went on to announce perennial middleweight contender Derek Brunson would now headline the event alongside Edmen Shahbazyan who is managed by Rousey.
Mike Heck of MMA Fighting was on the Instagram live during White’s announcement and reported the news on social media, he wrote.
“Dana White just revealed that Holly Holm vs. Irene Aldana will be pushed to a later date, and that Derek Brunson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan is the new main event for Aug. 1 in Las Vegas.”
The official UFC Twitter account quickly followed on the announcement with a post to confirm the new main event for August 1 and provide a fight poster to get the fans excited about the middleweight match-up.
BREAKING!
@DerekBrunson & @EdmenShahbazyan move to the main event of the August 1st event. pic.twitter.com/zCEmc3aQZH
— UFC (@ufc) July 22, 2020
Brunson has picked up consecutive wins over Elias Theodorou and Ian Heinisch to re-establish himself as one to watch in the division. The American previously suffered back-to-back losses against Israel Adesanya and ‘Jacare’ Souza.
Shahbazyan is the rising star at 185lbs who currently boasts a perfect 11-0 record. At just 22 years old he already has four UFC wins to his name, three of which have come by stoppage inside one round.
Are you disappointed to see Holly Holm vs. Irene Aldana replaced as the August 1 main event?