Paige VanZant injured, Randa Markos steps in to fight Amanda Ribas at UFC Brasilia

Paige VanZant’s first fight of 2020 will have to wait.

An arm injury has forced “PVZ” forced out of her upcoming strawweight bout with Amanda Ribas (8-1) at UFC Brasilia on March 14, MMA Fighting confirmed with multiple people with knowledge of the shift and the promotion later announced. Veteran Randa Markos will step in as a replacement to fight Ribas.

The change was first reported by Combate.

VanZant’s arm has been a problem area for her since it was broken in a fight with Jessica-Rose Clark in January 2018. The 25-year-old has had three surgeries to address the injury since. Her upcoming fight with Ribas was to be the last on her current contract with the UFC.

Markos (10-7-1) competed three times in 2019, going 2-1 with a loss to Claudia Gadelha sandwiched between wins over Ashley Yoder and Angela Hill. “Quiet Storm” is one of the longest-tenured strawweights on the UFC roster, having competed for the promotion 13 times following a stint as a cast member on The Ultimate Fighter.

UFC Brasilia is headlined by a lightweight bout between Kevin Lee and Charles Oliveira, with the main card airing on the ESPN+ streaming service.