November 2, 2024

Demetrious Johnson vs. Ray Borg, Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko set for UFC 215

The UFC’s Edmonton debut features two title fights and could potentially be a historic evening. The company announced Wednesday that the Sept. 9 card at Rogers Place will be headlined with a flyweight title fight, as champion Demetrious Johnson will defend his title against Ray Borg.

The co-feature bout will be a rescheduled women’s bantamweight title matchup between champion Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko.

Johnson, a native of Washington state, will look to make what would be a UFC record 11th successful title defense. He’s presently tied with former longtime middleweight championAnderson Silva for the record at 10.

The longest-reigning current champ will defend his belt just two weeks shy of his fifth anniversary as champion. Johnson (26-2-1) won 12 fights in a row and just last week won the ESPY for Best Fighter in 2016.

Borg (11-2) is a JacksonWink fighter out of Albuquerque. He’s won two straight and five of his past six, most recently a unanimous decision over Jussier Formiga on March 11 in Brazil.

The Nunes-Shevchenko announcement made official plans which had been expected since the original date between the two was canceled the day of UFC 213. Champion Nunes withdrew from the Las Vegas matchup, citing sinusitis.

Nunes (14-4) has won five straight fights, a stretch which includes a decision victory over Shevchenko at UFC 196. Shevchenko (14-2), for her part, bounced back from her loss to Nunes with impressive victories over Holly Holm and Julianna Pena.

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