After some rejiggering, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is now making a
flyweight title eliminator a five-rounder in Atlantic City.
At the end of January, the scheduled main event of
UFC on ESPN 54 between Sean Brady
and Vicente
Luque
fell through due to the former’s injury. While Luque is getting
a new opponent, per the Boardwalk
Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey—the venue of the fight
card—it will not remain as the main attraction. In its place will
be the 125-pound tilt between Erin
Blanchfield (12-1) and Manon
Fiorot (11-1), likely for a shot at the belt. The UFC announced
this change on Thursday.
Since joining the promotion in 2021, New Jersey native Blanchfield
has been a woman possessed as she moved up through the division.
Starting with a pair of decisions that year over Sarah Alpar
and Miranda
Maverick, Blanchfield began finishing women in the Octagon the
following year. In her 2022 campaign, “Cold Blooded” tapped
J.J.
Aldrich with a guillotine choke and landed a kimura on Molly
McCann to stamp herself a contender. In 2023, she strangled
Jessica
Andrade via rear-naked choke, and a decision over Taila
Santos put a bow on her six-fight UFC run thus far.
Not to be outdone, Fiorot has also won six straight since she
debuted with the league in 2021. Knockouts of Victoria
Leonardo and Tabatha
Ricci announced her as a force to be reckoned with, and the
Frenchwoman has since rattled off four straight decision victories
over increasingly notable competition. Fiorot beat future
bantamweight title challenger Mayra
Bueno Silva, flyweight title challengers Jennifer
Maia and Katlyn
Chookagian, and outworked ex-strawweight queen Rose
Namajunas in her most recent outing. Neither woman has competed
past the third round as a professional.
UFC on ESPN 54 goes down at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City,
New Jersey, on March 30. The marquee matchup is now between
Blanchfield and Fiorot. The co-headliner will see Luque (22-9-1)
come to blows with Joaquin
Buckley (17-6), sporting high finish rates of 86% and 71%,
respectively. Both men bounced back from knockout losses to prevail
in 2023 and will clash for three rounds if needed.