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 …