Andrade steps in vs. Blanchfield with Santos out of Feb. 18 UFC main event

Top women's flyweight prospect Erin Blanchfield's opportunity to cross over into title contention will come against a new opponent.

Taila Santos is out of the UFC Fight Night main event against Blanchfield on Feb. 18 in Las Vegas and has been replaced by former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade, the promotion announced Saturday.

Santos, a Brazil native, withdrew after her two cornermen were denied visas, according to MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz.

The matchup between Andrade and Blanchfield will be five rounds, per MMA Fighting's Damon Martin.

Andrade, who competed consistently at both 115 and 125 pounds in recent years, is riding a three-fight winning streak and coming off a dominant win over Lauren Murphy at UFC 283 in January. Andrade, who's also Brazilian, held strawweight gold in 2019. She fell short in a bid for the flyweight title against Valentina Shevchenko in 2021.

Andrade is ranked No. 3 as a flyweight and No. 6 at strawweight. After her victory over Murphy, she called for a 115-pound title shot against current champion Zhang Weili.

Blanchfield is one of the best prospects in women's MMA history. She brings a 10-1 career record - and a perfect 4-0 mark in the UFC - into her biggest test to date against Andrade. Blanchfield submitted Molly McCann last November. She's ranked No. 10 at 125 pounds and could be next up for the winner of the UFC 285 title fight between Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso if she beats Andrade.

UFC Fight Night will also feature a lightweight bout between Jim Miller and Alexander Hernandez, who recently stepped up on short notice for Gabriel Benitez.