Tate Dropping To Flyweight, Could Face Murphy At UFC 273

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate will be moving down to the flyweight division for her next fight inside the Octagon. According to MMA Fighting, “Cupcake” is in line to face Lauren Murphy at the scheduled UFC 273 pay-per-view (PPV) event in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Verbal agreements are in place though not contracts have officially been signed.

Tate made her return to action in July 2021 after a five-year hiatus to defeat Marion Reneau via third-round technical knockout in July 2021. In her follow up fight against Kelten Vieira four months later, Tate came up short via unanimous decision. Now, the ex 135-pound queen will look to get back on tack in a new weight class.

Murphy is currently ranked No. 3 at 125 pounds on the official UFC rankings and is coming off a loss to current division champion Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 266. The loss snapped her five-fight win streak.

UFC 273 will also feature Irene Aldana taking on Aspen Ladd in a women’s bantamweight bout. While the promotion has yet to book a headliner, but there are rumblings that it could feature a featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Chan Sung Jung. Volkanovski was set to defend his title against Max Holloway at UFC 272 a month prior but after “Blessed” suffered an injury, the promotion had to change course.

As always, keep it tuned to MMA Mania as more fights are confirmed for UFC 273.