Nunes-Anderson elevated to UFC 256 main event

UFC 256 has a new main event.

Following the postponement of Kamaru Usman versus Gilbert Burns, Amanda Nunes' featherweight title defense against Megan Anderson will serve as the top billing at the Dec. 12 pay-per-view card, Dana White told Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole.

Nunes and Anderson agreed to the bout in August, but it was originally going to be the co-main event.

Usman, the UFC welterweight champion, reportedly needed more time to recover from undisclosed injuries, so his bout against Burns was taken off the card.

Nunes, the women's featherweight and bantamweight champion, is coming off a lopsided victory over Felicia Spencer at UFC 250 in June. "The Lioness" has been the 135-pound champion since July 2016 and added the featherweight belt to her collection in December 2018. She is widely considered to be one of the greatest fighters in the world.

Anderson beat Norma Dumont via first-round TKO in her last fight at UFC Norfolk in February. The Australian is riding a two-fight winning streak and is 3-1 over her past four outings.

UFC 256 is also expected to feature a bantamweight title bout between champion Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling in the co-headliner. A location for the card has not yet been announced.