The UFC scrambled to find a main event for next month’s pay-per-view, leading to Derrick Lewis vs. Daniel Cormier. As a result, Joanna Jedrzejczyk will fight Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 231 according to Dana White.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto spoke to President Dana White after news broke of the Lewis vs. Cormier main event for UFC 230, confirming that the women’s flyweight title will be fought for at UFC 231.
Since Dustin Poirier vs. Nate Diaz is not a satisfying enough main event according to the promotion, the UFC announced that Valentina Shevchenko vs. Sijara Eubanks will fight for the women’s flyweight title to headline UFC 230. This was not accepted with open arms by the MMA community, and the organization threw together Daniel Cormier vs. Derrick Lewis for the heavyweight title on less than a month’s notice after Lewis’ rise to stardom last weekend.
The announcement of Shevchenko vs. Eubanks scrapped Valentina vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk from UFC 231. With Shevchenko and Jedrzejczyk available again, Canada will see two title fights in December after all.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk is looking to breathe new life into her career after losing a pair of title bouts to Rose Namajunas. While she did rebound with a win over Tecia Torres in July, the prospect of gold and a decreased weight cut was enough to pull Joanna from the strawweight ranks. The Polish striker defended her title five times before falling to Namajunas.
Being an undersized bantamweight, Valentina Shevchenko had a very impressive run at 135 pounds. The Peruvian was 3-2 in the Octagon, defeating Holly Holm, Julianna Pena, and Sarah Kaufman, and falling to Amanda Nunes twice in close fights. Shevchenko made her promotional flyweight debut in a big way, dominating Priscilla Cachoeira en route to a second-round submission. In three Muay Thai bouts against Joanna, Shevchenko was the victor by decision each time.
UFC 231 takes place on December 8 from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The main event features Max Holloway and Brian Ortega battling for the featherweight title.
