Jessica Andrade and Lauren Murphy are expected to face off at UFC 283 on Andrade’s home soil.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed Andrade, the former strawweight champ, will fight Murphy, a one-time flyweight title challenger, at the Jan. 21 pay-per-view event. The bout will be contested at 125 pounds.
UFC 283 is expected to take place at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro and air on ESPN+ pay-per-view.
Andrade, who hails from Umuarama, Paraná, Brazil, returns to the flyweight division after a trip to strawweight, where she briefly held the title. In the headliner of UFC Vegas 52, Andrade pulled off a standing arm-triangle choke that’s bound to make best-of-year lists. It was her second straight win after a loss to flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko dashed her immediate hopes of retaking gold.
In Murphy, Andrade meets a fighter who saved her title prospects in her most recent performance. A dominant decision over ex-bantam champ Miesha Tate at UFC on ABC 3 kept Murphy in the title hunt at 125 pounds. She sought redemption after a disastrous outing against Shevchenko in her previous performance she said was hobbled by a bout with C-diff in training camp.
UFC 283 is expected to feature a fourth bout between flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo and ex-champ Brandon Moreno, who are 1-1-1 in a trio of bouts.