Recent flyweight title challenger Taila
Santos will square off against surging prospect Erin
Blanchfield at UFC
Fight Night 219 on Feb. 18.
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Multiple outlets confirmed the booking after Blanchfield announced
the matchup on the “Morning Kombat” show. Blanchfield also revealed that she has
signed a new four-fight contract with the Las Vegas-based
promotion. UFC Fight Night 219 takes place at the UFC Apex and does
not yet a main event.
Santos is coming off a five-round, split-decision loss to Valentina
Shevchenko in the UFC 275 co-main event this past June, when
she gave the reigning flyweight queen arguably the toughest test of
her championship reign. Prior to that defeat, the 29-year-old Astra
Fight Team representative had won four straight bouts in the
Octagon, with notable victories over the likes of Joanne Wood,
Roxanne
Modafferi and Molly
McCann.
Blanchfield, 23, has emerged as one of the most intriguing talents
in the division since making her promotional debut in September
2021. The Invicta FC veteran has since gone 4-0 in UFC competition,
besting Sarah Alpar,
Miranda
Maverick, J.J. Aldrich
and McCann in succession. The Renzo Gracie
Jiu-Jitsu export has lost just once in 11 professional outings — a
split-decision setback against Tracy
Cortez at Invicta FC 34 in February 2019.