A flyweight superfight between Henry Cejudo and TJ Dillashaw has been moved from UFC 233 to headline January 19th’s UFC On ESPN+ 1 event at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn.
The promotion had been struggling to find a suitable headliner for their debut event on ESPN after their original intention to have Yoel Romero fight Paulo Costa fell through due to the Brazilian suffering an injury.
In the end it’s led to them moving Cejudo Vs Dillashaw forward a week from UFC 233 in Anaheim on January 26th, which now leaves them with a new headache as they now need a headliner for that show too.
The word is that they had targeted a welterweight title fight between Tyron Woodley and Colby Covington to take that spot, but as things stand the champion isn’t going to be ready in time for that date.
Nevertheless, a big bout to lead the ESPN event was a must and a superfight certainly fits the bill.
Cejudo heads into the encounter after dethroning long-reigning champion Demetrious Johnson by split decision. Prior to that the former Olympic wrestling gold medalist had claimed wins over Wilson Reis and Sergio Pettis, which in total leaves his MMA record standing at 13-2 as he heads into this fight.
As for Dillashaw, back-to-back wins over former champion Cody Garbrandt has solidified his status as the bantamweight kingpin, following on from further victories against John Lineker and Raphael Assuncao, taking him to an overall 16-3 record, while also being ranked at No.4 on the overall pound-for-pound rankings, 6 places above Cejudo.
Cejudo Vs Dillashaw leads a UFC On ESPN+ card that will also feature Paige VanZant Vs Rachael Ostovich, Glover Teixeira Vs Ion Cutelaba and has also now been given Joanne Calderwood Vs Ariane Lipski, which was also originally scheduled for UFC 233.
