A replacement fighter herself, 2023 Contender Series alum Josefine Knutsson now has a replacement opponent for her promotional debut at Noche UFC next week.
Knutsson (6-0) did not win a contract following her appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series barely two weeks ago. She was, however, signed to the company to face Iasmin Lucindo on short notice at Noche UFC on September 16.
With Lucindo now out, however, Knutsson will instead fight fellow newcomer Marnic Mann (6-1) at the event. The pairing was recently added to UFCStats.com. No word has been given as to why Lucindo has dropped out of the fight
Mann turned up on the Contender Series last year, losing to current UFC fighter Bruna Brasil. She bounced back this past April, defeating Invicta FC vet Amber Brown under the LFA banner.
Knutsson earned her sixth consecutive victory when she claimed a unanimous decision win over Isis Verbeek in a battle of decorated strikers on week three of Dana White’s Contender Series Season 7. Despite her experience and level of competition however, that was not enough to land a UFC contract, or so it seemed. While White did not grant her a deal on the show, she’ll now be the first fighter from Season 7 to actually debut inside the octagon.
Noche UFC, held in conjunction with Mexican Independence Day, is set to be headlined by Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko in a women’s flyweight title fight. The following match-ups have been reported for the event thus far:
- Alexa Grasso (c) vs. Valentina Shevchenko — for the UFC women’s flyweight championship
- Kevin Holland vs. Jack Della Maddalena
- Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Terrence Mitchell
- Daniel Zellhuber vs. Christos Giagos
- Fernando Padilla vs. Kyle Nelson
- Lupita Godinez vs. Elise Reed
- Roman Kopylov vs. Josh Fremd
- Edgar Cháirez vs. Daniel Lacerda
- Tracy Cortez vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
- Natan Levy vs. Alex Reyes
- Iasmin Lucindo vs. Josefine Knutsson
