Miesha Tate is out of her June 3 match-up with former UFC women’s bantamweight champ Mayra Bueno Silva — but a new opponent, and date, have been found for the Brazilian.
Silva (10-2-1) was expected to feature in the co-main event of UFC on ESPN 45 at the start of June, but will instead headline the promotion’s July 15 Fight Night event. That bout will come against another former bantamweight champ, Holly Holm (15-6).
Ariel Helwani was first to report the news on Wednesday’s edition of The MMA Hour.
No reason has been revealed for Tate’s withdrawal from the June 3 card, which is set to take place in Jacksonville, Florida.
Holm recently returned to the win column, picking up a unanimous decision over Yana Santos in March. That victory followed a split decision loss for “The Preacher’s Daughter” against Ketlen Vieira. Holm is 3-1 in her past four fights, however, and never seems far from a title shot.
Brazil’s Silva has won three straight, including a kneebar submission win over Lina Lansberg earlier this year. “Sheetara” picked up a Performance of the Night bonus for that showing, which followed an arm-bar submission of Stephanie Egger last August.
The UFC’s July 15, 2023 Fight Night event was previously expected to be headlined by ex-155lb champ Rafael dos Anjos vs. Vicente Luque in a welterweight match-up. There’s yet to be any word regarding whether it will remain on the card, or shift elsewhere.
The July event has had the following fights reported for it to date:
- Rafael dos Anjos vs. Vicente Luque
- Walt Harris vs. Josh Parisian
- Azat Maksum vs. Tyson Nam
- Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Ailín Pérez
- Norma Dumont vs. Chelsea Chandler
- Holly Holm vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
