Former women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate, who will be dropping to flyweight for her next outing, has a new date for her return.
Tate (19-8) was expected to face Lauren Murphy (15-5) at the UFC’s Fight Night event on May 14. While the opponent will remain the same, Tate’s 125lb coming out party will now take place as part of UFC 276 on July 2. That’s the card that will cap off this year’s International Fight Week in Las Vegas.
Ariel Helwani was first to report news of the new date, which Murphy later confirmed on social media.
No reason for the change in dates has been given.
Tate will enter the fight off a loss to Ketlen Vieira last November. Since returning from retirement in July 2021, she’s 1-1, and has seemingly picked up where she left off over four years ago. However, with good friend Julianna Pena holding the belt at 135lbs, the former bantamweight champ is giving flyweight a go.
She’ll be welcomed there by Murphy, who has not fought since losing a title bid against Valentina Shevhcenko last September. Prior to that, she’d won five straight fights to claim the title opportunity.
UFC 276, which is set for the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 2, 2022, has no other fights reported or announced thus far. Tate, meanwhile, found success outside the cage recently, winning Season 3 of Celebrity Big Brother in the U.S.
