Knockdown Daily 6/29/22: Miesha Tate vs. Lauren Murphy Re-Booked
The new date for a UFC bantamweight booking leads the MMA headlines for Wednesday
Welcome to the Wednesday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Here are the top MMA headlines from the past 48 hours.
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Miesha Tate vs. Lauren Murphy Moved To July 16th UFC ‘Fight Night’
Miesha Tate’s flyweight debut has been re-booked once again. Her matchup against Lauren Murphy has been moved to UFC’s July 16th event, per an announcement made by the promotion this week.
The fight is joining a card that is set to take place at the UBS Arena in Long Island, New York, USA.
Tate and Murphy were first scheduled to meet this weekend at UFC 276. However, due to a positive COVID-19 test on Murphy’s side, the fight was recently removed from that lineup.
The new booking allows Tate to make her debut in the 125-pound weight class.
Tate, a former UFC Bantamweight Champion, is moving down after previously competing at the 135-pound limit. She is coming off a loss from her latest appearance, suffering a unanimous decision defeat to Ketlen Vieira in 2021.
Murphy will be aiming to bounce back from an unsuccessful title bout against Valentina Shevchenko last year. Before that loss, Murphy strung together a five-fight winning streak in the division.
Macy Chiasson To Face Irene Aldana At UFC 279
Macy Chiasson will return to bantamweight later this year to face Irene Aldana. The fighters will meet at UFC’s September 10th pay-per-view event, as first reported by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes.
Chiasson has appeared at bantamweight before but has spent her more recent fights up at featherweight. She scored a win in her last appearance, working toward a split decision victory over Norma Dumont in May.
Aldana is also coming off a win. She last appeared in July 2021, when she earned a first-round finish victory against Yana Kunitskaya.
Aldana has been sidelined from competing for more than a year, in part due to the fact that two bookings for her have been canceled in recent months.
Two Fights Join September 17th UFC ‘Fight Night’ Lineup
A pair of matchups have joined UFC’s quickly growing September 17th show.
Rodrigues, Njokuani To Meet At Middleweight
Both coming off strong wins recently, middleweights Gregory Rodrigues and Chidi Njokuani will meet in September. News of this matchup was confirmed by Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting first.
Rodrigues bounced back from his sole UFC loss earlier this month, scoring a first-round finish win against Julian Marquez. The performance moved his promotional record to a strong three wins and one loss since getting onboard with the UFC in 2021.
Njokuani has put together two quick wins since joining the UFC roster last year. The Bellator vet won his UFC debut in just 16 seconds, stopping Marc-Andre Barriault with strikes.
Njokuani’s last appearance came in May when he put away Dusko Todorovic within a round due to strikes.
Gatto Aims To Bounce Back Against Robertson
Fighting to come back from her first pro loss, Melissa Gatto will face Gillian Robertson, per Fight Bananas.
Gatto’s first defeat came in May, as she dropped a unanimous decision to Tracy Cortez at UFC 274. Before then she had eight wins as a pro, including two via finish in the UFC cage.
Robertson will be fighting to turn around some recent bad luck in the UFC. She has lost three of her last five fights as a pro and is currently coming off a defeat.
That most recent loss was in March when JJ Aldrich pulled off a unanimous decision win over her.
Zac Pauga Scores Finish Win Against Jordan Heiderman To Secure ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ Grand Final Spot
Undefeated heavyweight prospect Zac Pauga punched his ticket to the grand finals of “The Ultimate Fighter” on this week’s episode of the reality TV show.
Pauga scored a second-round finish win against Jordan Heiderman, advancing him past the semi-finals in the 30th season of the show.
Pauga caught Heiderman with a left hook early in the second round of their bout. Pauga then landed two cross punches to the head of Heiderman before he dropped to the canvas with somewhat of a delayed reaction, causing the fight to end.
Pauga was clearly ahead in the fight before the stoppage, touching Heiderman up with his boxing throughout the first round.
Pauga’s first win of the bracket aired during the season premiere in May, when he beat Nyle Bartling on scorecards.
Heiderman scored a late stoppage win in his first fight of the season, finishing Chandler Cole in the overtime round of their bout.
Both fighters picked up five wins as a pro before entering this season of “TUF.”
Pauga is the sole fighter to make it into the grand finals of the show thus far. His opponent will be revealed on the July 12th episode of the show, as the other heavyweight bout will air on that date.
The grand final bouts for “The Ultimate Fighter” are expected to air on a live UFC card at a date that has yet to be announced.
The flyweight semi-finals will kick off next week with a fight between Brogan Walker and Laura Gallardo.
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