Macy Chiasson steps in for Julia Avila to face Raquel Pennington at UFC Vegas 45

Raquel Pennington will still get one last fight in before the end of the year.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Pennington will face Macy Chiasson at UFC Vegas 45, which takes place Dec. 18 at the APEX and will serve as the promotion’s final event of 2021.

Chiasson steps in to replace Julia Avila who was forced to withdraw from her scheduled matchup with Pennington due to a knee injury.

Since her first pro loss to Lina Lansberg in September 2019, Chiasson has only competed twice for a variety of reasons. The Fortis MMA standout bounced back with unanimous decision wins over Shanna Young and Marion Reneau over her those two appearances. The No. 10 ranked fighter in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings was scheduled to face Aspen Ladd on two different occasions in 2021, with Chiasson suffering an injury that forced her to withdraw from their July matchup, while Ladd missed weight ahead of their October bout forcing it to be removed from the card.

Pennington, No. 6 on MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings, has also won two straight, including a unanimous decision victory over Pannie Kianzad at UFC Vegas 37 in September.

UFC Vegas 45 will be headlined by a heavyweight matchup between Derrick Lewis and Chris Daukaus.