Ashlee Evans-Smith drops to flyweight, meets Bec Rawlings at UFC 223

A women’s flyweight bout between Ashlee Evans-Smith and Bec Rawlings is the latest addition to April’s UFC 223 lineup.

UFC officials on Saturday revealed the matchup, which will see Evans-Smith (5-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) drop from the bantamweight division to fight Rawlings (7-7 MMA, 2-4 UFC), according to Newsday.com.

UFC 223 takes place April 7 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass, though the bout order hasn’t been finalized.

After spending her career at 135 pounds, Evans-Smith will make a change by moving down to the recently opened 125-pound division. The 30-year-old is on a two-fight skid. Her latest bout was a first-round submission loss to Sarah Moras at UFC 215 in September.

Rawlings also will enter the event with hopes of breaking a slide. “Rowdy” has dropped her past three octagon appearances, albeit to notable competition in Jessica-Rose Clark, Tecia Torres and Paige VanZant. The 30-year-old has not won since March 2016, though, and could be fighting for her octagon career at UFC 223.

With the addition, UFC 223 now includes:

• Interim champ Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov – for interim lightweight title
• Champ Rose Namajunas vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk – for strawweight title
• Paul Felder vs. Al Iaquinta
• Michael Chiesa vs. Anthony Pettis
• Felice Herrig vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
• Chris Gruetzemacher vs. Joe Lauzon
• Ray Borg vs. Brandon Moreno
• Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Bec Rawlings

For more on UFC 223, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site