Erin Blanchfield’s date with “The Future” will have to wait. Instead, the UFC flyweight will meet with another Invicta FC alumni this December — Miranda Maverick.
Blanchfield and Barber were supposed to face off on the UFC 269 card on December 11, 2021, the final PPV of the calendar year. However, Barber has been forced to withdraw, with Maverick stepping up on roughly five weeks’ notice to take her place.
Cageside Press confirmed the news following an initial report by MMA Junkie.
Blanchfield (7-1) was one of the hottest flyweight prospects on the market when she signed with the UFC earlier this year. She originally stepped up for a short notice fight at bantamweight against Norma Dumont in April, only for Dumont to miss weight, resulting in the fight being scratched.
Finally making her octagon debut in September, Blanchfield won a unanimous decision against Sarah Alpar at UFC Vegas 37.
Maverick (9-3), a former winner of Invicta FC’s one-night Phoenix Series tournament, is 2-1 in the UFC to date. Coincidentally, she’s coming off a loss to the fighter she’s replacing, Maycee Barber. Like Blanchfield, Maverick has looked like a blue chip prospect early in her career, and many saw her split decision loss to Barber going the other way.
UFC 269 will take place at the T-Mobile Arena on December 11, 2021, and is headlined by a lightweight title fight between Charlies Oliveira and Dustin Poirier. Amanda Nunes defends her bantamweight title against Julianna Pena in the co-main event.
The current line-up for the final PPV of 2021 consists of the following bouts:
Charles Oliveira (c) Dustin Poirier – for the UFC lightweight championship
Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Julianna Peña – for the UFC women’s bantamweight championship
Leon Edwards vs. Jorge Masvidal
Kai Kara-France vs. Cody Garbrandt
Raulian Paiva vs. Sean O’Malley
Geoff Neal vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
Dominick Cruz vs. Pedro Munhoz
Andre Muniz vs. Dricus Du Plessis
Alex Perez vs. Matt Schnell
Ryan Hall vs. Darrick Minner
Gillian Robertson vs. Priscila Cachoeira
Randy Costa vs. Tony Kelley
Josh Emmett vs. Dan Ige
Bruno Silva vs. Jordan Wright
Erin Blanchfield vs. Miranda Maverick
