A women’s flyweight bout between a pair of top 125lb’ers is in the works for the UFC event on June 20. Lauren Murphy announced on social media Tuesday that she’d signed a bout agreement, although she withheld the name of her scheduled opponent.
Came home from practice to find a bout agreement in my inbox! Signed, sent, delivered!
Let’s goooooooooooo! pic.twitter.com/0gGHetIOS1— Lauren Murphy (@LaurenMurphyMMA) May 19, 2020
However, per a report by MMA Fighting, her opponent will be none other than “The Happy Warrior” Roxanne Modafferi.
Murphy (12-4) is the winner of two straight inside the octagon, against Andrea “KGB” Lee and Mara Romero Borella. A former Invicta FC bantamweight champion, she’s 3-1 since moving to flyweight in 2017, with the lone loss coming to Sijara Eubanks.
Roxanne Modafferi (24-16) is 3-3 since returning to the UFC in 2017. A second stint on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF 26, which introduced the women’s flyweight division) saw her fighting for the title after Sijara Eubanks had health complications. While Modafferi lost to inaugural champ Nicco Montano, she’s been trading wins and losses ever since — with both losses coming to fighters who missed weight.
Modafferi has wins over Barb Honchak, Antonina Shevchenko, and last time out, Maycee Barber. Having derailed Barber’s hype train, “The Happy Warrrior” would be in an interesting spot with a win over Murphy. Valentina Shevchenko has run roughshod over the division in her time as champion, and two wins are enough to land a title fight, frankly — especially with Modafferi holding a win over the champion’s sister.
Valentina Shevchenko is currently paired off with Joanne Calderwood for her next title defense, but she has fought at a fairly brisk pace thus far in her reign.
The UFC’s June 20 card does not have a title, or location as of yet. The promotion’s hope is to host its upcoming shows at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. However, that hinges on the Nevada State Athletic Commission giving the OK for combat sports events to resume in the state. Failing that, Dana White confirmed over the weekend that the promotion will head to Arizona as a Plan B.
