Valentina Shevchenko vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk Re-Inked for UFC 231

Officials have re-shuffled the deck after inking a deal for heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier to put his belt on the line against Derrick Lewis.

That means not only will Cormier vs. Lewis take the headlining spot at UFC 230

, the recently proposed bout for the vacant women’s flyweight belt between Valentina Shevchenko and Sijara Eubanks has been nixed. 

Shevchenko was originally slated to fight Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the co-main event slot at UFC 231 on Dec. 8 in Toronto, but when it appeared that UFC 230 would be without a championship main event, promotion officials pulled her to fight at UFC 230. Jedrzejczyk insisted that she had other obligations and would not be ready for a Nov. 3 date at Madison Square Garden, so the UFC slotted in Eubanks, The Ultimate Fighter Season 26 finalist, opposite Shevchenko at UFC 230. 

After Lewis staged a final-minute comeback against Alexander Volkov at UFC 229 over the weekend, Cormier was persuaded to put his belt on the line against “The Black Beast.” With that bout taking up the headlining spot at UFC 230, company  president Dana White told ESPN that the fight between Shevchenko and Jedrzejczyk was back on for UFC 231 in Toronto.

This article first appeared at News – MMAWeekly.com