Rachael Ostovich out, Shana Dobson now meets Priscila Cachoeira at UFC on ESPN+ 26 in Auckland

Rachael Ostovich is off the card for the UFC’s return to New Zealand next month, and a Brazilian will take her place against Shana Dobson.

Ostovich (4-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) is out of her women’s flyweight fight at UFC on ESPN+ 26 against Dobson (3-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC), a person with knowledge of the matchup told MMA Junkie on Friday. Stepping in for Ostovich is Priscila Cachoeira (8-3 MMA, 0-3). The person spoke on condition of anonymity since the UFC has not yet announced Ostovich’s withdrawal or Cachoeira as the new opponent. The circumstance behind Ostovich’s withdrawal is not known.

UFC on ESPN+ 26 takes place Feb. 22 (Sunday, Feb. 23 locally) at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. The card streams on ESPN+.

Cachoeira may be in a must-win situation. After starting her pro career 8-0, she signed with the UFC in 2018 and was submitted by current champion Valentina Shevchenko in the second round after being outstruck by her at a massive 230-3 clip. She returned 11 months later, but in 2019 lost back-to-back decisions to Molly McCann and Luana Carolina, giving her a three-fight skid.

Dobson has dropped back-to-back unanimous decisions to Lauren Mueller and Sabina Mazo. The first was her lone 2018 fight. The latter was her only bout in 2019 and her return after a 16-month layoff in part due to injury. Dobson was a cast member on Season 26 of “The Ultimate Fighter” and won her official UFC debut after the show with a TKO of Ariel Beck.

Ostovich, from Hawaii, was set to return to work for the first time since a January 2019 submission loss to Paige VanZant. That setback gave her back-to-back losses for the first time in her career. In July 2018, she was submitted by Montana De La Rosa after submitting Karine Gevorgyan in her promotional debut in December 2017 after “TUF 26.”

With the change, the UFC Auckland lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)

• Paul Felder vs. Dan Hooker
• Jake Matthews vs. Emil Meek
• Jimmy Crute vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
• Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Yan Xiaonan
• Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Ben Sosoli

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)

• Magomed Mustafaev vs. Brad Riddell
• Kevin Aguilar vs. Zubaira Tukhugov
• Jamie Mullarkey vs. Jalin Turner
• Song Kenan vs. Callan Potter
• Priscila Cachoeira vs. Rachael Ostovich
• Kai Kara-France vs. Tyson Nam
• Hannah Goldy vs. Loma Lookboonmee
• Maki Pitolo vs. Takashi Sato