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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Another day, another main event change in the UFC.
The organization announced early Friday morning that Alexander Gustafsson has suffered an injury, taking him out of his main event fight against Glover Teixeira at UFC Fight Night 69 in Berlin, Germany.
Now, newly crowned Women's Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk will put her title on the line in that slot, defending the belt against Jessica Penne.
Jedrzejczyk defeated Carla Esparza in March to win that title, stuffing almost every takedown attempt from Esparza before stopping her in the second round. She'll now meet one of Esparza's friends and teammates on The Ultimate Fighter 20 in Penne. The 32-year-old is a former Invicta FC Champion in the atomweight division, and steps into a title fight after a split decision win over Randa Markos in her UFC debut.
The UFC Fight Night 69 card airs live on UFC Fight Pass on June 20.
Penick's Analysis: The injuries continue to pile up in big fights, and the UFC's best laid plans continue to get messed up. Jedrzejczyk-Penne is a decent fight, but Penne getting a title fight off her win over Markos isn't the most enticing matchup. Of course, there aren't many clear options in the division as it stands, so it's getting Jedrzejczyk a fight somewhat close to home. That this is the first title fight on Fight Pass is another somewhat interesting wrinkle, and actually increases the value of the service while not forcing the newest division to attempt to draw numbers to TV or pay-per-view off the bat.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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