Written by Jacqueline Cavalcanti | Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC
Jacqueline Cavalcanti and Julia Avila have agreed to fight in a bantamweight bout at a Feb. 15 UFC event, multiple people with knowledge of the situation told MMA Fighting. Contracts are yet to be signed. The promotion hasn’t made an official announcement on the location for the event.
The original plan was for Cavalcanti to face UFC’s first-ever featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie in January of 2025, but the Dutch veteran recently announced her to retire from the sport.
Cavalcanti (8-1) has won three in a row since joining the UFC in 2023, scoring decisions over Zarah Fairn, Josiane Nunes and Nora Cornolle.
Avila (9-3) was victorious in three of her first four UFC bouts with wins over Pannie Kianzad, Gina Mazany and Julija Stoliarenko. In her most recent outing, Avila tapped out to a face crank when she faced ex-UFC champion Miesha Tate.
Mike Heck contributed to this report.