“King” Casey O’Neill will not be competing at UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia as planned next month — and that has led to opponent Viviane Araujo being rescheduled against a new name.
Araujo (11-5) will now face Jennifer Maia (21-9-1) at a UFC Fight Night event on October 14, 2023 that is expected to take place at the UFC Apex. O’Neill revealed news of the injury Tuesday, following an initial report by Sherdog, who were also first to report the new date/opponent for Araujo.
Hurts to say this but unfortunately I am out of my fight in Sydney. Just had surgery on Friday and have already started recovering, looking to get rebooked in December ! Next year I’ll make sure I’m on an Australia card 🇦🇺 ❤️
— Casey Oneill (@kingcaseymma) August 8, 2023
Araujo will be looking to snap a two-fight losing streak come October. She’s dropped decisions to Amanda Ribas and Alexa Grasso in her last two outings, with the flyweight posting a 1-3 record in her last four. While in a rough spot at the moment, Araujo’s losses have at least aged well, with Grasso having gone on to dethrone Valentina Shevchenko for flyweight gold earlier this year.
Fellow Brazilian Maia is a former Invicta FC champ on the opposite trajectory of late. She’s won her last two bouts, including a unanimous decision victory over Casey O’Neill in her last outing.
Maia challenged for UFC women’s flyweight gold in 2020, losing a unanimous decision against then-champ Shevchenko.
O’Neill added a little message of support for both fighters after news of the new match-up broke, writing “Let’s go girls!” on social media.
The UFC’s October 14, 2023 Fight Night card does not yet have a main event announced or reported. The following fights are expected to take place at the show:
- Irina Alekseeva vs. Melissa Dixon
- Emily Ducote vs. Ashley Yoder
- Edson Barboza vs. Sodiq Yusuff
- Jonathan Martinez vs. Adrian Yanez
- David Dvorak vs. Tatsuro Taira
- Viviane Araujo vs. Jennifer Maia
