Andrea Lee steps in to fight Ashlee Evans-Smith at UFC’s ESPN debut

Andrea Lee didn’t have to wait long for her next fight opportunity.

After seeing a recent matchup with Jessica-Rose Clark fall through, Lee has signed on as a short-notice replacement for Lauren Murphy to fight Ashlee Evans-Smith in a flyweight bout at the UFC’s first televised ESPN show on Feb. 17 at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix. MMA Fighting’s Marc Raimondi confirmed the news with sources following a report by MyMMANews.com.

Lee (9-2) was supposed to fight Clark at UFC on FOX 31 on Dec. 15, but Clark was removed from the bout after being hospitalized due to issues with her weight cut. “KGB”, a former Legacy Fighting Alliance flyweight champion, debuted in May earlier this year with a unanimous decision nod over Veronica Macedo, her fifth consecutive victory.

Evans-Smith (6-3) also logged one UFC appearance in 2018, making a successful 125-pound debut by defeating Bec Rawlings by unanimous decision in April. She is 3-3 in six Octagon appearances. Her bout with Murphy fell through when Murphy announced that she needed more time off to recover from foot surgery.