Miesha Tate’s flyweight debut has been cancelled for the second time.
Tate was expected to take on flyweight contender and former title challenger Lauren Murphy at UFC 276 on July 2, 2022. However, during Saturday’s UFC Vegas 57 broadcast, the promotion announced that the fight had been “cancelled” and would not take place on the card as expected.
No reason for the cancellation was given. It’s the second date that has fallen through for the bout, and it’s not clear whether the match-up will be booked for a third time.
Shortly after the announcement, MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani reported that the issue appeared to stem from Murphy’s side. Just a week out from the event, a replacement opponent for the ex-champ seems dubious at best.
Tate (19-8), a former Strikeforce and UFC bantamweight champion, returned from a four-year retirement last year, picking up a win over Marion Reneau in her first fight back. That was followed by a loss to Ketlen Vieira in November, after which Tate began toying with the idea of dropping down a weight class.
The bout with Murphy (15-6), who has not fought since her failed title bid against Valentina Shevchenko last year, was initially booked for May. It was then pushed back to UFC 276 during International Fight Week, for undisclosed reasons.
With the loss of Miesha Tate vs. Lauren Murphy, UFC 276 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas moves forward with the following match-ups:
- Israel Adesanya (c) vs. Jared Cannonier – for the UFC middleweight championship
- Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. Max Holloway – for the UFC featherweight championship
- Sean Strickland vs. Alex Pereira
- Pedro Munhoz vs. Sean O’Malley
- Brad Riddell vs. Jalin Turner
- Robbie Lawler vs. Bryan Barberena
- Ian Garry vs. Gabriel Green
- Jim Miller vs. Donald Cerrone
- Uriah Hall vs. André Muniz
- Jessica Eye vs. Maycee Barber
- Brad Tavares vs. Dricus du Plessis
- Jessica-Rose Clark vs. Julija Stoliarenko
