In some rather interesting news that completely came out of left field, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White revealed during a UFC 235 pre-fight press conference (video replay here) that despite being scheduled to fight at the pay-per-view (PPV) event on March 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Holly Holm and Aspen Ladd have both been yanked from the lineup.
“That fight is not going to happen, that’s why they are not up here,” said White when asked why neither fighter was present at the presser. “We are working on another fight for both of them,” he concluded.
That’s as far into detail White opted to go into, offering no rhyme or reason as to why the bout was suddenly and mysteriously scrapped.
What sticks out is the fact that UFC isn’t keen on booking them against one another at another event, which will now lead to further speculation and confusion as to why the promotion suddenly didn’t feel up for the matchup.
The news apparently also blindsided Ladd herself:
I reached out to Aspen Ladd’s team about what Dana White just said: “News to me, seriously.”
— Mike Heck (@MikeHeck_JR) February 1, 2019
Very strange, indeed.
Holm was looking to collect her second straight win after taking out Megan Anderson at UFC 225 last summer. Ladd, meanwhile, was looking to extend her undefeated winning streak to eight (5-0, 2-0 UFC). She will still get the chance to do so down the road, it just won’t be against Holm.
Anyone else thinking UFC is interested in booking a women’s Bantamweight title fight between division queen Amanda Nunes and Holm pretty soon? It could be based on the champ’s tweet:
— Amanda Nunes (@Amanda_Leoa) February 1, 2019
If not, then what’s your guess as to why this bout was pulled from UFC 235?