Bengaluru, February 8: The UFC have found a main event for next month's UFC 222 as they finally came to terms to schedule Cris "Cyborg" Justino vs. Yana Kunitskaya for the women's featherweight title on March 3 in Las Vegas.
The news was first reported by MMA Fighting and was later confirmed by UFC president Dana White via an interview with FOX Sports.
UPDATE: Dana White confirms Cris Cyborg vs. Yana Kunitskaya and Frankie Edgar vs. Brian Ortega as the main events for #UFC222! https://t.co/aPs0C8GRNT
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) February 8, 2018
The women's featherweight bout will now replace the card's original headliner for the men's featherweight title between Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar, which was canceled last week after Holloway suffered an ankle injury in training.
The event is scheduled to take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and it is the third UFC pay-per-view since December to lose its original main event.
Edgar, who was ready for a fight despite Holloway's withdrawal, will now face Brian Ortega in a non-title fight in the co-main event with the winner expected to be next in line for a title shot.
REEEEEEEEMIX‼️#UFC222 lands new main event as @CrisCyborg defends the featherweight strap against @YanaKunitskaya1, @FrankieEdgar moves to co-main to face @BrianTCity! pic.twitter.com/gEOuTQBEOp
— UFC (@ufc) February 8, 2018
Cyborg, who hasn't lost since her pro debut in 2005 is fresh off a unanimous decision win over Holly Holm in December where she defended her belt successfullly.
While, Kunitskaya will make her UFC debut and the former Invicta FC bantamweight champion has endured mixed results in her last five fights.
In co-main event scene, Edgar hasn't fought since he defeated Yair Rodriguez at UFC 211 in May last year. Ortega, meanwhile, extended his undefeated run to 13 in December when he defeated Cub Swanson.
The UFC also tried to book T.J. Dillashaw vs. Cody Garbrandt 2 for the men's bantamweight title as the new UFC 222 main event, but that fight failed to materialize, according to reports.
The headliners, Kunitskaya and Ortega also took to social media to announce the bouts.
Ladies and gentleman your Co Main Event for UFC 222. Vegas see you March 3rd
A post shared by Brian Ortega (@briantcity) on
This how the UFC 222 card now looks like:
Women's Featherweight title bout: Cris Cyborg vs. Yana Kunitskaya
Featherweight bout: Frankie Edgar vs. Brian Ortega
Heavyweight bout: Andrei Arlovski vs. Stefan Struve
Middleweight bout: C.B. Dollaway vs. Hector Lombard
Women's Strawweight bout: Mackenzie Dern vs. Ashley Yoder
Women's Bantamweight bout: Ketlen Vieira vs. Cat Zingano
Bantamweight bout: Sean O'Malley vs. Andre Soukhamthath
Bantamweight bout: Bryan Caraway vs. Cody Stamann
Light Heavyweight bout: Jordan Johnson vs. Adam Milstead
Lightweight bout: Beneil Dariush vs. Bobby Green
Bantamweight bout: John Dodson vs. Pedro Munhoz
Welterweight bout: Mike Pyle vs. Zak Ottow