The UFC’s return to Brazil next month has seen a lineup shakeup in a women’s bantamweight bout on the preliminary card.
Dudu Santana (3-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) is out of her fight against Tracy Cortez (6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at UFC on ESPN+ 22. Stepping up for Santana will be Vanessa Melo (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC). A person with knowledge of the new booking confirmed the news to MMA Junkie following an initial report from CagesidePress.com.
UFC on ESPN+ 22 takes place. Nov. 17 at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo. The card streams on ESPN+.
Melo made her UFC debut in September, but dropped a unanimous decision to Irene Aldana at UFC on ESPN+ 17 in Mexico City. The setback snapped a five-fight winning streak of unanimous decisions that ultimately got her signed to the UFC.
Cortez, who has three fights for Invicta FC on her resume, fought on Dana White’s Contender Series in late July and took a unanimous decision form Mariya Agapova. The win was her sixth straight, and now she’ll try for her first official victory in the UFC.
Santana was looking to get back on track following the first loss of her pro career, which came in June to Bea Malecki at UFC on ESPN+ 11. At that fight in Sweden, Santana was submitted in the second round with a rear-naked choke. Santana had been scheduled to fight Leah Letson in Sao Paulo before Letson pulled out of the fight.
With the change, the UFC on ESPN+ 22 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
- Jan Blachowicz vs. Ronaldo Souza
- Mauricio Rua vs. opponent TBA
- Jared Gordon vs. Charles Oliveira
- James Krause vs. Sergio Moraes
- Markus Perez vs. Wellington Turman
- Antonio Arroyo vs. Andre Muniz
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET)
- Eduardo Garagorri vs. Ricardo Ramos
- Bobby Green vs. Francisco Trinaldo
- Warlley Alves vs. Randy Brown
- Renan Barao vs. Douglas de Andrade
- Priscila Cachoeira vs. Ariane Lipski
- Tracy Cortez vs. Vanessa Melo
