Per sources, Alexa Grasso is out of her
flyweight fight against Joanne Calderwood on Nov. 20. Calderwood
(@DRkneevil)
will now face Taila Santos instead. They are the UFC’s Nos. 6 and 9
ranked flyweights, respectively.— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN)
October 8, 2021
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. Strictly from a rankings perspective, this change in
opponent at the Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight
division is actually an improvement. The UFC’s broadcast partner of ESPN
announced on Friday that Alexa
Grasso will not longer be competing
UFC Fight Night 198 for undisclosed reasons. In her stead will
be Taila
Santos (18-1), who will come to blows with Joanne
Calderwood (15-6) at 125 pounds on Nov. 20. While Grasso is the
#10 ranked flyweight according to the promotion, Santos is at the
#9 spot to Calderwood as the sixth-ranked woman in the division.
The two will tangle inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Santos finds herself on a three-fight win streak, with her last
victory a decision over Roxanne
Modafferi in September to earn this short-notice opportunity.
The Brazilian out of Astra Fight Team unsuccessfully debuted with
the promotion in 2019, dropping a split decision to Mara
Romero Borella to lose for the first time in her career.
Santos’
competition on the Brazilian scene was less than stellar,
including a run of eight wins with the Aspera FC promotion where
those eight opponents totaled for a record of 4-8-1 combined.
“Jojo” has alternated wins and losses in her last six, picking up
decisions over Ariane
Lipski, Andrea Lee
and Jessica Eye
on the way. Those wins were interspersed with defeats to future
title challengers Katlyn
Chookagian, Jennifer
Maia and Lauren
Murphy, with the latter two gaining title shots by beating
Calderwood. Making her way to the organization with a flawless 8-0
record through season 20 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” the Scottish
fighter prevailed under the Invicta Fighting Championships four times to
get there.
UFC Fight Night 198 takes place on Nov. 20 at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas, where Ketlen
Vieira squares off with Miesha Tate
in the event’s headliner at bantamweight. Like the main event that
was rescheduled, the co-featured fight is a once-postponed
welterweight pairing between Michael
Chiesa and Sean
Brady.
