With less than a week to go before the event, UFC
Fight Night 219 has a new headliner.
The promotion announced on Saturday that Jessica
Andrade will step in on short notice for Taila
Santos and face Erin
Blanchfield in the flyweight feature next Saturday at the UFC
Apex in Las Vegas. Santos withdrew from the contest after her
cornermen were denied visas into the United States.
Andrade will be making a quick turnaround after earning a lopsided
unanimous decision triumph over Lauren
Murphy in a 125-pound bout at UFC 283 on Jan. 21. The former
strawweight queen has been victorious in her last three Octagon
appearances — including two at 125 pounds.
Blanchfield, meanwhile, has has kicked off her promotional tenure
with successive triumphs over Sarah Alpar,
Miranda
Maverick, J.J. Aldrich
and Molly
McCann. The Renzo Gracie
Jiu-Jitsu representative is 10-1 over the course of a professional
career that includes stints in Invicta FC and Cage Fury Fighting
Championships.