Valentina Shevchenko vs. Lauren Murphy Set For UFC 266 Co-Headliner On September 25th.

Mandatory Credit: MMA Junkie

A flyweight title fight between reigning division champion, Valentina 'Bullet' Shevchenko and the #3 ranked contender, 'Lucky' Lauren Murphy has been booked to take co-main event status at UFC 266 on September 25th. -- with the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada set to host the event.

Set for her sixth attempted defence of the 125lbs throne, Kyrgyzstan finisher, Shevchenko took home a dominant second round ground-and-pound stoppage victory over former strawweight champion, Jessica Andrade in the first of three title fights at UFC 261 in April. The victory came as Shevchenko's seventh consecutive victory.

For former Invicta FC bantamweight champion, Murphy, the Alaska native is in the midst of a five-fight undefeated streak on route to her first title fight under the promotion's banner -- most recently besting Joanne Calderwood via split decision at UFC 263 in June of last month at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. News of the title bout was first reported by ESPN MMA reporter, Brett Okamoto as per UFC president, Dana White. 

Shevchenko, 33, has been as a dominant a titleholder the promotion has seen recently, taking five consecutive successful defences of the flyweight throne after taking a vacant title victory against former strawweight best, Joanna Jedrzejczyk. 

The renowned kickboxer and Tiger Muay Thai, Pavel Fedetov trainee took home successful defences against Jessica Eye, Liz Carmouche, Katlyn Chookagian, former Invicta FC titleholder, Jennifer Maia, and the aforenoted, Andrade in April.

15-4 as a professional from 19 professional outings, Murphy has competed under the UFC's banner since her transition from Invicta FC back in April of 2014. With a promotional record of 7-4 -- Murphy has bested Kelly Faszholdz, Barb Honchack, Mara Romero Borella, Andrea Lee, Roxanne Modafferi, Liliya Shakirova, and the above mentioned, Calderwood.

UFC 266 takes place on September 25th. -- with a featherweight title bout between Alexander Volkanovski and the #1 ranked contender, Brian Ortega set to take headlining honours in a rescheduled title clash. Former interim welterweight title challenger, Nick Diaz is set to make his return to professional mixed martial arts at the event as well, in the form of a five round rematch 17-years in the making against former undisputed welterweight champion, Robbie Lawler.