Earlier today, news broke that Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s bantamweight and Featherweight queen, Amanda Nunes, was forced to withdraw from her upcoming title defense opposite Julianna Pena at UFC 265 on Aug. 7 in Houston, Texas. That match up is likely to be rebooked in the coming months, but prior to that scheduling, UFC 265 is less than two weeks away.
As a result of the cancellation, the co-main event slot is open. Per a report from TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter, the match up of Jose Aldo vs. Pedro Munhoz will rise to that position, as it was previously scheduled directly prior to the co-main event. The fight will remain three rounds — this is no Nate Diaz situation!
Aldo is coming off the first Bantamweight victory of his professional career, a strong showing opposite Marlon Vera. However, many believe that he deserved the nod over Marlon Moraes in his divisional debut as well, and that performance quickly saw the former Featherweight kingpin rise up the divisional ladder. He currently holds the No. 5 position in the rankings.
Ninth-ranked Pedro Munhoz returned to the win column last time out as well, kicking apart the calf of Jimmy Rivera in a fun clash. Three of Munhoz’s four most recent bouts earned “Fight of the Night” honors, so it’s unlikely that UFC 265’s co-main event is boring.
As it stands, UFC 265 remains headlined by the interim Heavyweight title clash between Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane. Having lost one title fight already, however, the pressure is on to keep those two healthy and COVID-19 free, lest UFC be forced to give away another pay-per-view (PPV) event.
For the complete UFC 265 fight card and PPV lineup click here.