UFC 264 live blog: Irene Aldana vs. Yana Kunitskaya

This is the UFC 264 live blog for Irene Aldana vs. Yana Kunitskaya, a catchweight main card bout for Saturday’s fight card at UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

The bout is being contested at a catchweight of 139.5 pounds after Aldana missed weight for the bantamweight limit of 136 pounds. Aldana, No. 4 on MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings, later apologized for her miss and said her body shut down during the weight-cutting process; she paid Kunitskaya 30 percent of her show purse.

Aldana returns to the octagon after a decision loss to ex-champ Holly Holm that delayed her title aspirations. Prior to that, she had won two straight, including a knockout of contender-apparent Kelten Vieira. Overall, she is 5-4 in the octagon.

Yana Kunitskaya, the No. 6-ranked bantamweight, is on the upswing with back-to-back win in her recent appearances, including a decision over Vieira. At 5-2 overall, she also owns wins over Julija Stoliarenko, Marion Reneau and Lina Lansberg.

Check out the UFC 264 live blog.