Aljamain Sterling will have to wait a little bit longer before he defends his UFC bantamweight title against TJ Dillashaw.

Sterling had been due to defend his 135-pound crown against former champ Dillashaw in the UFC 279 headliner but news of the soon-t0-be-confirmed showdown between Nate Diaz and Khamzat Chimaev instead topping that fight card in Las Vegas on September 10 has prompted UFC officials to kick the Sterling-Dillashaw fight down the road a little, according to Ariel Helwani on Spotify Live.

It is now expected that the fight will join the UFC 280 card in Abu Dhabi on October 22 which is to be topped by a lightweight title fight between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev, though this remains speculation at this point.

It is thought that Dillashaw cannot obtain a license to fight in New York currently which rules out UFC 281 in November as hosting the fight, while UFC 282 is expected to take place in December — which would presumably be too long of a wait for the contest, provided that both men are in full health.

Further details are expected in the coming days.