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 final bout of ex-Ultimate
Fighting Championship title challenger Bethe
Correia’s career will have to wait a little while longer. Correia (11-5-1) posted on Instagram earlier in
the week announcing that her matchup with Yanan Wu
(11-3) will be shifting from UFC on ESPN 19 to the
Jan. 16 Fight Night event. A reason was not given for the
unexpected change in the date.
In her post, Correia wrote (via Google Translate), “Soon I will be
living this moment again! Not in December, but January 16th!”
Subsequent posts for Correia have included the hashtag “UFC Fight
Island,” which appear to confirm the location of the Jan. 16 fight
card at the Flash Forum on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab
Emirates. Subsequent events like UFC 257 are expected to take place
in that venue.
This is to be Correia’s final MMA fight, although she was
previously released by the organization after her loss to
Pannie
Kianzad at UFC on ESPN 14 in July. Instead, the UFC kept her on
the roster to allow the 37-year-old to have her final bout.
The Brazilian started her career at a perfect 9-0, earning her
title shot with a trio of wins over Julie
Kedzie, Jessamyn
Duke and Shayna
Baszler. The latter two were members of then-champ Ronda
Rousey’s team, providing the storyline of Correia against the
team while also pitting two unbeaten fighters against one another
for the belt. After her loss to Rousey, a 34-second knockout,
Correia has fallen on hard times. “Pitbull” went on to lose four of
seven following the Rousey match, with a draw to Marion
Reneau in the midst of her struggles. Correia did record
decision wins over Jessica Eye
and Sijara
Eubanks to remain ranked for the time.
China’s Wu initially came to the promotion as a bantamweight. When
she dropped a decision, she relocated to flyweight briefly, but a
bad weight miss and a subsequent loss against Mizuki
Inoue in August 2019 prompted her return to 135 pounds. The
24-year-old nicknamed “Mulan” posts an impressive finish rate of 82
percent – far greater than her opponent’s 18 percent stoppage rate
– with each of her last seven victories coming inside the
distance.
The UFC event on Jan. 16 is currently the first event scheduled by
a major organization in the new year, and the headliner will be a
featherweight clash between Max
Holloway and Calvin
Kattar. An additional main card tilt sees welterweight strikers
Santiago
Ponzinibbio and Muslim
Salikhov come to blows.
