The UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Shahbazyan card was set to move on with nine bouts after there were several fighter withdrawals the day before the show and right before the event.
A middleweight division attraction between Trevin Giles and Kevin Holland was scheduled to kick off the main card, but Giles passed out before making his entrance to the Octagon and the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) canned the bout.
Giles wound up spending the night in the hospital, but Holland believes the fighter was looking for a way out of their encounter.
“In the back of my head, I’m honestly believing that he held his breath until he passed out, so that way, he didn’t get the smackdown,” Holland said after the bouts cancellation (via Danny Segura & Dave Doyle of MMA Junkie).
Another competitor wound up passing out as well, but this one took place after their fight and that person was Joanne Calderwood.
Calderwood, who suffered a first round submission loss to Jennifer Maia at the event, would pass out backstage.
Daniel Rubenstein, who is Calderwood’s manager, says the fighter was transported to the hospital and is doing better.
“She’s okay now,” Rubenstein told MMA Fighting. “She was getting checked out in the medical room and fainted while sitting down. John caught her, they laid her down and carted her out on a stretcher. Heart rate dropped on the way there but stabilized now. She’s awake at the hospital with Wood.”
The fighter would also issue the following statement on Instagram:
There is no word yet as to whether the UFC will try to rebook Holland against Giles or what is next for Calderwood.
