With two title fights and a host of other marquee matchups, UFC 239 is absolutely stacked. From the sounds of things, however, the July 6 card soon become a little less stacked. According to a report from Kevin Iole, the UFC is considering moving a light heavyweight bout between Luke Rockhold and Jan Blachowicz from UFC 239 to UFC San Antonio on July 20, two weeks later.
The UFC is trying to move Jan Blachowicz versus Luke Rockhhold off of UFC 239 on July 6 and put it on UFC on ESPN 4 on July 20 in San Antonio. Not done, but in the works. UFC not looking at a Shevchenko-Carmouche bout for that date at this time.
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) June 13, 2019
“The UFC is trying to move Jan Blachowicz versus Luke Rockhold off of UFC 239 on July 6 and put it on UFC on ESPN 4 on July 20 in San Antonio,” Iole wrote on Twitter. “Not done, but in the works. UFC not looking at a Shevchenko-Carmouche bout for that date at this time.”
The last detail of this of this Tweet from Iole is in contradiction to a recent report from ESPN’s Ariel Helwani which suggested the UFC was working on a Valentina Shevchenko vs. Liz Carmouche fight for the UFC San Antonio main event.
UFC needs a main event for 7/20 in San Antonio. One option that has been discussed recently is Valentin Shevchenko vs. Liz Carmouche for the women’s flyweight title. Carmouche beat Shevchenko back in 2010. That was Shevchenko’s first pro loss.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 12, 2019
“UFC needs a main event for 7/20 in San Antonio,” Helwani reported. “One option that has been discussed recently is Valentin Shevchenko vs. Liz Carmouche for the women’s flyweight title. Carmouche beat Shevchenko back in 2010. That was Shevchenko’s first pro loss.”
Whether it ends up occurring at UFC 239 as originally planned or at UFC San Antonio, this Luke Rockhold vs. Jan Blachowicz fight will be a big one for the UFC light heavyweight division.
The bout will serve as the former middleweight champ Rockhold’s debut in the 205-pound division, while the long-time light heavyweight contender Jan Blachowicz will look to get back on track after a knockout at the hands of Thiago Santos.
If this bout is indeed moved, it will not be the first to be reallocated from the UFC 129 card. The UFC Minneapolis main event, which will pit Francis Ngannou vs. Junior dos Santos, was also originally expected to occur on the July 6 card.
Which card would you rather see this Luke Rockhold vs. Jan Blachowicz fight occur on?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 6/13/2019.