Jennifer Maia steps in to face Manon Fiorot at UFC Columbus

The UFC may not have been able to keep fast-rising flyweight prospect Manon Fiorot on this week’s PPV card, but it seems they’ve found…

By: Zane Simon | 1 year ago
Jennifer Maia steps in to face Manon Fiorot at UFC Columbus
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

The UFC may not have been able to keep fast-rising flyweight prospect Manon Fiorot on this week’s PPV card, but it seems they’ve found a rock solid replacement fight for the 32-year-old fighting out of Nice, France.

Fiorot had been set to take on former title challenger Jessica Eye this weekend, at UFC 272 in Las Vegas, NV. Unfortunately, Eye was forced from the card late last week, due to an undisclosed injury, suffered in training. The result? Another step forward in competition for the ‘Beast’.

MMA Junkie reports that fellow former title challenger Jennifer Maia has agreed to face Fiorot later this month at UFC Columbus: Blaydes vs. Daukaus, on March 26th.

Maia (19-8-1) is coming fresh off a January rematch loss to Katlyn Chookagian, on the main card of UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Chikadze. That defeat put a quick halt to any momentum the Brazilian had been hoping to build with her bounce back win over Jessica Eye in July of last year—just a little over eight months after a defeat at the hands of flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.

For Fiorot (8-1), this bout will represent the fourth of her short Octagon career, having joined the UFC back in January of 2021 to run out a quick 3-0 record with the world’s largest MMA promotion. The Boxing Squad talent hasn’t tasted defeat since a debut loss to current Bellator talent Leah McCourt, back in 2018—with six of her eight victories coming via TKO/KO.

UFC Columbus is expected to be headlined by a heavyweight top contender’s bout between Curtis Blaydes and Chris Daukaus. A top ranked men’s flyweight bout between Askar Askarov and Kai Kara-France is currently set as the co-main event.

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About the author
Zane Simon
Zane Simon

Zane Simon is a senior editor, writer, and podcaster for Bloody Elbow. He has worked with the website since 2013, taking on a wide variety of roles. A lifelong combat sports fan, Zane has trained off & on in both boxing and Muay Thai. He currently hosts the long-running MMA Vivisection podcast, which he took over from Nate Wilcox & Dallas Winston in 2015, as well as the 6th Round podcast, started in 2014. Zane is also responsible for developing and maintaining the ‘List of current UFC fighters’ on Bloody Elbow, a resource he originally developed for Wikipedia in 2010.

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