BREAKING!
@DerekBrunson
& @EdmenShahbazyan
move to the main event of the August 1st event. pic.twitter.com/zCEmc3aQZH— UFC (@ufc)
July 22, 2020
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. The
Ultimate Fighting Championship has reorganized its upcoming
event at the UFC Apex.
On Thursday, the promotion sent out a press release to announce the
current lineup for
UFC Fight Night 173 on Aug. 1. The card, originally set to be
headlined by a women’s bantamweight potential title eliminator
between Holly Holm
and Irene
Aldana, now finds itself with a new main event. Aldana
tested positive for COVID-19, and their pairing may be
rescheduled for October. Due to this change, Derek
Brunson vs. Edmen
Shahbazyan has been elevated to the top billing, but it will be
a three-round bout due to the short-notice change.
Moving up to the co-main event spot is a pivotal women’s flyweight
tilt as Jennifer
Maia tries to crush the championship aspirations of Joanne
Calderwood. Calderwood earned a crack at the belt in June, but
champ Valentina
Shevchenko was forced to pull out due to injury. Meanwhile, in
the featured fight of the night, welterweights Vicente
Luque and Randy Brown
will square off.
A few matchups originally booked on the card have fallen of or been
retooled thanks to withdrawals. Additionally, there are new fights
on the card, like the rematch between Lando
Vannata and Bobby Green
– their thrilling first meeting in 2017 ended with a split draw.
Elsewhere on the card, stepping in on short notice against Ed Herman at
light heavyweight will be Gerald
Meerschaert. Trevin
Giles will now be facing Kevin
Holland instead of Jun Yong
Park after Park was forced to withdraw. Finally, the status of
the Chris
Gutierrez vs. Luke
Sanders bantamweight tilt is currently unknown.
The event will air in its entirety on ESPN+ on Aug. 1 at the UFC
Apex in Las Vegas. The main card kicks off at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT,
while the prelims begin at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.
UFC Fight Night 173 Official Lineup
Derek
Brunson vs. Edmen
Shahbazyan – middleweight
Jennifer
Maia vs. Joanne
Calderwood – women’s flyweight
Vicente
Luque vs. Randy Brown
– welterweight
Lando
Vannata vs. Bobby Green
– lightweight
Ed
Herman vs. Gerald
Meerschaert – light heavyweight
Trevin
Giles vs. Kevin
Holland – middleweight
Frankie
Saenz vs. Jonathan
Martinez – bantamweight
Ray
Borg vs. Joseph
Nathan Maness – bantamweight
Markus
Perez vs. Eric
Spicely – middleweight
Jamall
Emmers vs. Timur
Valiev – featherweight