Julie “Fireball” Kedzie has received a new opponent for her second fight in the Octagon on December 7th at UFC Fight Night 33: “Hunt vs Bigfoot” in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Kedzie now faces off against unbeaten Brazilian prospect Bethe “Pitbull” Correia, who makes her UFC debut.

UFC officials announced the change late on Tuesday night. Kedzie was originally set to face Aleksandra “Stitch” Albu, who withdrew from the card due to an undisclosed injury earlier this month. Correia has won all three of her fights this year and she moved up to the 135-pound division in June.

Kedzie (16-12-0) looks to climb back up towards the bantamweight top ten with a key victory when she steps back into the Octagon next month. The nine-year veteran made her UFC debut at UFC on FOX 8 in late July and battled back and forth with multi-time Muay Thai world champion Germaine “The Iron Lady” de Randamie for three rounds. De Randamie walked away with a Split Decision victory on the scorecards and Kedzie had planned to rebound by defeating Albu, but she instead faces another UFC newcomer with eyes on making a run at the UFC women’s bantamweight title.

Correia (6-0-0) spent much of the early portion of her career competing as a flyweight in Brazil, where she racked up five straight victories. On June 29th, Correia moved up in weight for her most high-profile fight to date at Jungle Fight 54 and scored a Unanimous Decision victory over Érica Paes, who remains the only woman to have ever defeated former Strikeforce champion and current Invicta FC titleholder Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino. The win earned Correia a spot on the UFC roster and she now steps in on short notice to challenge the much more experienced Kedzie next month.

UFC Fight Night 33: “Hunt vs Bigfoot” takes place on December 7th at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

(Photo Credit: UFC)