Former UFC women's bantamweight champion, Holly Holm, has been forced out of her upcoming UFC Vegas 40 main event bout with Norma Dumont on October 16 due to an undisclosed knee injury.
MMA journalist Ariel Helwani was the first to report the news of Holm's removal, with ESPN's Brett Okamoto being the first to report that the promotion is targeting Aspen Ladd as the replacement for Holm. Ladd will move up in weight to face Dumont in a five-round featherweight bout, this comes after she struggled again to make the 135-pound bantamweight limit in her scheduled matchup with Macy Chiasson at last weekend's UFC Vegas 38 event. The fight was ultimately canceled after Ladd came in at 137 pounds and visibly struggled to stand on the scale to weigh in.
Aspen Ladd almost fainted when trying to stand on her feet and raise both hands on the scale. (She weighed in at 137). Commission is now checking her condition and if she’s able to fight tomorrow. #UFCVegas38 pic.twitter.com/ycHF3HkPeE
— Carlos Contreras Legaspi (@CCLegaspi) October 1, 2021
Ladd is 4-1 in her five Octagon appearances and defeated Yana Kunitskaya via a third-round TKO at UFC on ESPN 7 back in December 2019 in her most recent bout. Dumont on the other hand is 2-1 in her three UFC outings and is coming off of a split-decision win over Felicia Spencer back at UFC Vegas 27.
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