UFC on ESPN+ 35 has a new headliner.
Hours after losing the original main event of light heavyweight contenders Glover Teixeira and Thiago Santos, due to a positive COVID-19 test from Teixeira, the co-main event between Michelle Waterson and Angela Hill has been promoted to main event.
The news was first reported by Cole Shelton of BJPENN.com and corroborated by Ariel Helwani of ESPN.
Waterson and Hill was scheduled for three rounds, but will now be five rounds on the top billing of the card. The strawweight contenders were first linked to each other back in August when they were supposed to fight at UFC Fight Night: Munhoz vs. Edgar, but the fight was pushed back for unknown reasons.
In her most recent outings, Waterson (17-8) has suffered two straight losses, losing to former champions Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Carla Esparza by way of unanimous and split decision respectively. This will be her second appearance inside the Octagon in 2020.
Hill has been much more active than Waterson and will be making her fourth appearance this year. She has defeated Hannah Cifers and Loma Lookboonmee, but suffered a minor setback when she lost against former title challenger, Claudia Gadelha at UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Harris.
UFC on ESPN+ 35 will move forward with 12 scheduled bouts. There is currently no word on which remaining fight will be the new co-main event.
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