Kay Hansen is returning to the strawweight division to welcome a promotional newcomer in April.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Hansen will face Piera Rodriguez at UFC 273. The event takes place April 9 at a venue and location yet to be officially announced. ESPN Deportes was first to report the booking.
Hansen returned to the octagon after a 14-month layoff this past Saturday at UFC 270, dropping a unanimous decision in a flyweight contest to Jasmine Jasudavicius. The 22-year-old will look to avoid a three-fight losing streak and pick up her second win inside the octagon. Hansen defeated Jinh Yu Frey via submission in her UFC debut in June 2020.
Rodriguez has won all seven of her professional bouts, including her most recent appearance that earned her a UFC contract. “La Fiera” picked up a unanimous decision win over Valesca Machado on Dana White’s Contender Series in October. Prior to that, the 29-year-old captured the LFA strawweight title with a fifth-round TKO win over Svetlana Gotsyk at LFA 105 this past April.
UFC 273 will feature a featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Chan Sung Jung, along with the highly anticipated rematch for the bantamweight title between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan.