UFC 215 gets two headlining title fights
Demetrious Johnson vs. Ray Borg and Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko will now headline and co-headline UFC 215.
UFC president Dana White told TSN.ca that UFC 215 on September 9 in Edmonton, Alberta will be headlined by men’s flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson vs. Ray Borg and women’s bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko.
White and Johnson got into a public argument, with the best pound for pound fighter in the sport arguing that the league was not promoting him properly, and turning down a fight with former bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw. Johnson instead wanted Dillashaw to fight his way into a top divisional ranking. If Mighty Mouse wins in September, he will break the record set by Anderson Silva for consecutive defenses.
“It’s unfortunate, I think [Johnson vs. Dillashaw] would have been a great title fight,” said White. “It would have been a fight that a lot of people would have wanted to see, but it is what it is.”
Nunes and Shevchenko were scheduled to fight in the main event of UFC 213 but the champ pulled out at the last moment citing chronic sinusitis. White said publicly that MDs had cleared Nunes to fight, and characterized the withdrawal as 90% mental and 10% physical, something the champion took issue with.
“[Nunes] and I talked, she was a little upset about the situation that I said she was medically cleared to fight,” said White. “Her and I talked about it and I think we’re in a good place now.”
The fight is now close to complete:
Demetrious Johnson vs. Ray Borg
Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko
Henry Cejudo vs. Wilson Reis
Rick Glenn vs. Gavin Tucker
Junior Dos Santos vs. Francis Ngannou
Ilir Latifi vs. Tyson Pedro
Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Sarah Moras
Arjan Bhullar vs. Luis Henrique
Gilbert Melendez vs. Jeremy Stephens
Sara McMann vs. Ketlen Vieira
Kajan Johnson vs. Adriano Martins