Holly Holm – Irene Aldana main event cancelled
The UFC’s proposed main event for their August 1st return to the Apex Centre has been called off.
As first reported by ESPN, Irene Aldana has been forced to withdraw from her headline bout against Holly Holm with the current plan to rebook the bout for an October 5th main event.
Due to the removal of the Holm – Aldana fight, the co-main event between Edmen Shahbazyan and Derek Brunson will now take top billing although remaining a three-round fight.
Shahbazyan (11-0) is undefeated in his professional MMA career and has gone 4-0 in the UFC since joining the promotion through Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. The 22-year old has won his last three fights via first-round stoppage with his most recent outing a KO win against Brad Tavares in November 2019. Shahbazyan is currently ranked #9 in the UFC’s middleweight rankings.
Brunson (20-7) meanwhile is currently on a two-fight winning streak having defeated Elias Theodorou and Ian Heinisch via unanimous decision. The eight-year UFC veteran is currently ranked #8 at 185 lbs and holds an 11-5 promotional record.
UFC Fight Night 173 is now slated to feature:
- Derek Brunson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
- Joanne Calderwood vs. Jennifer Maia
- Vicente Luque vs. Randy Brown
- Markus Perez vs. Eric Spicely
- Ray Borg vs. Nathan Maness
- Trevin Giles vs. Jun Yong Park
- Da Un Jung vs. Ed Herman
- Frankie Saenz vs. Jonathan Martinez
- Chris Gutierrez vs. Luke Sanders
- Jamall Emmers vs. Timur Valiev