It’s certainly not the main event anyone wants, but it’s apparently the best the UFC could do on such short notice.
Women’s featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino (pictured) will defend her throne against Yana Kunitskaya (WHO?!) in UFC 222’s new featured attraction.
The ladies step in to replace the scrap between featherweight champ Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar after Holloway was forced out last week with an undisclosed injury.
Speaking of Edgar, he will now perform in the card’s co-main event against Brian Ortega.
MMAFighting.com was the first to report the two matchups.
Kunitskaya, who typically competes at bantamweight, is just 1-1 (1 NC) over her past three outings. However, it appears last August’s unanimous decision victory over Raquel Pa’aluhi in Invicta was enough to warrant a crack at Justino’s belt in the UFC.
Justino, meanwhile, is the most dominant female in mixed martial arts history. The brutal Brazilian is fresh off December’s unanimous decision win over Holly Holm at 219.
The March 3 show goes down inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Can’t make it to Vegas? That’s OK, the pay-per-view can be yours for only $64.95!
Here is UFC 222’s revised lineup:
Mackenzie Dern vs. Ashley Yoder
Ketlen Vieira vs. Cat Zingano
Sean O’Malley vs. Andre Soukhamthath
Bryan Caraway vs. Cody Stamann
Jordan Johnson vs. Adam Milstead
Beneil Dariush vs. Bobby Green
C.B. Dollaway vs. Hector Lombard
Stefan Struve vs. Andrei Arlovski
Frankie Edgar vs. Brian Ortega
Yana Kunitskaya vs. Cris “Cyborg” Justion