UFC 243 has taken a hit as Holly Holm has withdrawn from the event and the UFC will not find a replacement for Raquel Pennington.
ESPN was first to report the news. The two were set to fight again after their fight at UFC 184 where Holm won. “The Preachers Daughter’ was also set to fight again in Australia since her stunning knockout win over Ronda Rousey to win the bantamweight title.
What the injury Holm sustained is currently unknown.
Holly Holm was looking to return to the winning ways after her UFC 239 knockout loss to Amanda Nunes where she was fighting for the bantamweight title.
Raquel Pennington, meanwhile, is coming off of a split-decision win over Irene Aldana earlier this year. Before that, she lost to Germaine de Randamie and was TKO’d by Nunes for the bantamweight title.
What fight will be moved up to the main card is to be seen.
The card is now as follows:
Main Card
- Champ Robert Whittaker vs. Interim champ Israel Adesanya – middleweight title
- Dan Hooker vs. Al Iaquinta
- Sergey Spivak vs. Tai Tuivasa
- Luke Jumeau vs. Dhiego Lima
Prelims
- Rostem Akman vs. Jake Matthews
- Yorgan De Castro vs. Justin Tafa
- Maki Pitolo vs. Callan Potter
- Megan Anderson vs. Zarah Fairn Dos Santos
Early Prelims
- Jamie Mullarkey vs. Brad Riddell
- Nadia Kassem vs. Ji Yeon Kim
- Bruno Silva vs. Khalid Taha
