Valentina Shevchenko vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk Is Back On
An awaited fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Joanna Jedrzejczyk is back on.
Earlier this afternoon, news arrived that the MMA world got a new UFC 230 main event. UFC President Dana White confirmed that heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will meet top-ranked competitor Derrick Lewis on November 3 in NYC.
The news confirmed a report from last night on the unlikely match-up. The pay-per-view (PPV) event from Madison Square Garden does feature an awaited scrap between Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz. But the event was lacking a true high-profile main event. Fight fans were perplexed when the promotion announced Valentina Shevchenko vs. Sijara Eubanks as the previous headliner.
The women’s flyweight title fight was a fine enough match in its own right. May argued, however, that it was far from the caliber expected to headline a PPV from MSG. The bout also put a temporary halt to the expected Shevchenko vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk women’s flyweight title bout at December 8’s UFC 231 from Toronto from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
That fight is back on according to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, who discussed the scheduling with White:
Flyweight Mix-Up
The women’s flyweight main event at UFC 230 received widespread criticism from the collective MMA world. UFC Octagon commentator Joe Rogan made headlines by claiming he didn’t know who Eubanks was.
Shevchenko already missed out on one opportunity to fight for the women’s flyweight title at September’s UFC 228. Former champion Nicco Montano missed weight and was stripped of the title she won on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF).
UFC 231 already features an anticipated featherweight title fight between Max Holloway and Brian Ortega. That fight was supposed has already fallen apart once. It was set for UFC 226 but was canceled when Holloway experienced bizarre medical symptoms.
Shevchenko and Jedrzejczyk have already fought in Muay Thai three times before with Shevchenko winning all three match-ups.
