Joanne Calderwood steps in to face Jennifer Maia on Aug. 1
Joanne Calderwood will no longer be fighting for a UFC title in her next fight.
Calderwood was next in line to face flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko, but instead she has agreed to take a short notice fight against Jennifer Maia on Aug. 1 at UFC on ESPN+ 31. Combate was first to report the news.
Maia was scheduled to face Viviane Araujo, but Araujo was forced to withdraw from the fight after testing positive for COVID-19.
Originally, Calderwood (14-4) was booked to fight Shevchenko at UFC 251 on June 6. That fight was scrapped in March when Shevchenko suffered a leg. Shevchenko has previously stated that August could be a return date for her, but there has been no indication of the UFC booking Shevchenko for a fight.
Calderwood has won three of her past four fights. Her last win came at UFC 242 last September, where she picked up split decision win over Andrea Lee.
Maia (17-6-1) is 2-2 in her UFC career. She lost her last fight to Katlyn Chookagian, who also has a win over Calderwood. Before that loss, she was on a two-fight winning streak, with wins over Alexis Davis and Roxanne Modafferi.
The current UFC on ESPN 31+ fight card is listed below.
Holly Holm vs. Irene Aldana
Derek Brunson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
Markus Perez vs. Eric Spicely
Trevin Giles vs. Jun Yong Park
Ed Herman vs. Da Un Jung
Joanne Calderwood vs. Jennifer Maia
Randy Brown vs. Vicente Luque
Jonathan Martinez vs. Frankie Saenz
Ray Borg vs. Nathan Maness
Chris Gutierrez vs. Luke Sanders
