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Las Vegas Aces star Kelsey Plum took on the role of a UFC matchmaker while being away from basketball.
Plum is currently recovering from an achilles injury that needed surgery.
The WNBA standout revealed in an Instagram video montage that UFC officials from Dana White's office reached out and invited her to a matchmaking meeting. Plum accepted the offer quite enthusiastically.
Kelsey Plum sets up two upcoming UFC fights
Prior to the UFC's invite, Kelsey Plum posted an Instagram story, instigating a fight between UFC fighters Kevin lee and Michael Johnson.
Her stories caught Dana White's attention and he had his office reach out to her for the matchmaking meeting.
Plum headed into the meeting all prepared, with a notebook in hand.
Dana White greeted Plum and introduced her to his colleagues, and then went on to explaining how the matchmaking worked in the meeting room. Plum caught up quite easily.
Plum suggested a number of fights from her notebook, starting with a high-profile lightweight fight between Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson, followed by a featherweight bout between Ryan Hall and Bryce Mitchell.
Two of the fights Kelsey Plum picked were finalized by Dana White and team, and she put up the cards on the board to make it official.
The first one was a flyweight contest between Maycee Barber and Alexa Grasso on the February 13 card. The company is supposed to host UFC 258 on that date, although the venue has not been finalized.
The second fight that Plum matched up was Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar for the featherweight main event at UFC Fight Night 186 on January 16, 2021.
What does it mean for the fighters?
Max Holloway is a two-time former featherweight champion, who is also ranked #1 in the division. He lost his belt to Alexander Volkanovski in December of last year, and failed to take it back in the rematch in July - both times via decision.
A win against #6-ranked Calvin Kattar might help him get back to winning ways. On the other hand, a victory over the top contender will definitely move Kattar up the ranks and put him closer to the title picture.
Maycee Barber suffered the first loss of her career against Roxanne Modafferi at UFC 246 via decision. Before that, she had three back to back wins in UFC over Hannah Cifers, J. J. Aldrich, and Gillian Robertson, all by TKO.
She will be facing Alexa Grasso, who has recently moved up to Flyweight and defeated Ji Yeon Kim via decision.
It would be a great bout between two upcoming flyweights, who might eventually go on to challenge the champion Valentina Shevchenko sometime in the near future.
