Taila Santos forced out of fight with Erin Blanchfield at UFC Vegas 69, Jessica Andrade steps in to fill the void

Taila Santos has been forced out of her fight with Erin Blanchfield at UFC Vegas 69 and Jessica Andrade has agreed to fill the void.

Santos (19-2 MMA) was slated to return for the first time since suffering a split decision loss to Valentina Shevchenko last June at UFC 275. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case, as ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported the following news on Twitter:

Oh wow. Taila Santos out of her fight against Erin Blanchfield this month, Jessica Andrade in. What a shift … what a step up for Blanchfield. Talk about being thrown into the deep end.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) February 11, 2023

“Oh wow. Taila Santos out of her fight against Erin Blanchfield this month, Jessica Andrade in. What a shift … what a step up for Blanchfield. Talk about being thrown into the deep end.”

As reported above, Erin Blanchfield (10-1 MMA) will now take on short-notice replacement Jessica Andrade (24-9 MMA).

Blanchfield is is fresh off her first-round submission win over Molly McCann in November at UFC 281. That victory improved Blanchfield’s current winning streak to seven in a row, with four of those wins coming inside the Octagon.

Meanwhile, former UFC strawweight champion Jessica Andrade last competed at January’s UFC 283 event, where she scored lopsided unanimous decision win over Lauren Murphy. The Brazilian has gone 4-1 since moving up to flyweight, with her lone loss in that time coming against reigning 125lbs queen Valentina Shevchenko.

UFC Vegas 69 is set for February 18th and will be held at the UFC Apex.

A reason for Taila Santos’ withdrawal has not been given at the time of this article.

What do you think of the new UFC Vegas 69 main event? Who do you think will emerge victorious when Erin Blanchfield and Jessica Andrade collide in the Octagon? Share your predictions in the comment section PENN Nation!