Miesha Tate flyweight debut vs. Lauren Murphy shifts to UFC 276

Miesha Tate will wait a little longer than originally expected for her flyweight debut.

Her bout vs. Lauren Murphy, previously scheduled for a UFC Fight Night event on May 14, has shifted to UFC 276 on July 2 in Las Vegas.

It is unclear why the bout shifted dates.

Two people with knowledge of the change confirmed it Wednesday to MMA Junkie after a tweet from MMA reporter Ariel Helwani, but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

After losing a unanimous decision to Ketlen Vieira in the UFC Fight Night 198 main event in November, Tate (19-8 MMA, 6-5 UFC) openly pondered a move down to flyweight. The former UFC and Strikeforce bantamweight champion explained that after her good friend Julianna Peña dethroned Amanda Nunes to capture the 135-pound title, the idea of changing weight classes became more viable since she’d rather not gun for Peña.

In non-fight-related news, Tate recently won a season of the reality series “Celebrity Big Brother.”

Meanwhile, Murphy (15-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) will look to rebound from her title loss to flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 266 in September. Prior to that, Murphy was on a five-fight winning streak, including wins over Andrea Lee and Joanne Wood.

No other fights have been announced for UFC 276 at this time.