Kevin Holland gets a new fight booking, as Marvin Vettori replaces his slot against Jack Hermansson.
On Saturday, Kevin Holland was removed from his UFC Vegas 16 headliner against Jack Hermansson after testing positive for COVID-19. Hours later, he got a new fight booked for UFC 256.
According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, “Trailblazer” will now fight Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. And stepping into take his place against Hermansson is number 13-ranked Marvin Vettori.
Kevin Holland will now face Jacare Souza at UFC 256 on 12/12 after having to pull out of next weekend’s main event due to testing positive for COVID. Vettori x Hermansson is on for next weekend’s headliner, per the broadcast.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 29, 2020
Jacare was supposed to face Uriah Hall at UFC 249 in May, but a positive COVID-19 test took him off the card. He hasn’t seen action since November 2019, when he lost to current light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz via split decision.
Vettori is currently on a three-fight win streak. He last fought in June against Karl Roberson and won via first-round submission. Hermansson is also coming off a first-round submission victory over Kelvin Gastelum in July.
Holland, meanwhile, last fought on Halloween night and defeated Charlie Ontiveros, also via first-round submission.
UFC Vegas 16 and UFC 256 will happen on December 5 and December 12, respectively. Both events will take place at the APEX Facility.