UFC’s September 12th card won’t have to settle with a three-round main event, as the headlining fight between Angela Hill and Michelle Waterson has been moved to five rounds. First reported by Ariel Helwani of ESPN, the matchup fills the spot of Glover Teixeira versus Thiago Santos, which was removed from the card after Teixeira tested positive for COVID-19.
Both fighters will attempt to bounce back from losses in the bout.
Hill’s last fight was in May, losing to Claudia Gadelha, snapping a three-fight winning streak that was attained in late 2019 and early 2020.
Waterson has lost her last two fights, stopping a climb up the strawweight rankings she had through 2018. She first lost to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in October, with the following bout being a split decision loss to Carla Esparza last May.
The matchup will be UFC history, as Hill will be the first Black woman to be in the main event of a UFC card.
Here’s the entire lineup of the “Fight Night” set to happen at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Bout 13: Michelle Waterson (17-8) vs. Angela Hill (12-8) (Strawweight)
Bout 12: Andrea Lee (11-4) vs. Roxanne Modafferi (24-17) (Flyweight)
Bout 11: Matt Schnell (14-5) vs. Tyson Nam (19-11) (Flyweight)
Bout 10: Tagir Ulanbekov (12-1) vs. Bruno Silva (10-5-2) (Flyweight)
Bout 9: Frank Camacho (22-9) vs. Brok Weaver (15-5) (Lightweight)
Bout 8: Billy Quarantillo (14-2) vs. Kyle Nelson (13-3) (Featherweight)
Bout 7: Bryan Barberena (14-7) vs. Anthony Ivy (8-3) (Welterweight)
Bout 6: Roosevelt Roberts (10-2) vs. Matt Frevola (8-1-1) (Lightweight)
Bout 5: Alan Patrick (15-2) vs. Rodrigo Vargas (11-4) (Lightweight)
Bout 4: Mike Rodriguez (11-4) vs. Ed Herman (24-14) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 3: Sabina Mazo (8-1) vs. Justine Kish (7-2) (Flyweight)
Bout 2: Bobby Green (26-10-1) vs. Alan Patrick (15-2) (Lightweight)
Bout 1: Julia Avila (8-1) vs. Sijara Eubanks (5-4) (Bantamweight)