UFC Fight Tonight: Is there a UFC card on Saturday, October 16, 2021?
The UFC will return to their home turf of the Apex facility once again with a stacked Fight Night card this weekend.
UFC Fight Night 195, also dubbed UFC Vegas 40, is set to go down on Saturday, October 16, 2021. The event will be headlined by a women's featherweight bout between Aspen Ladd and Norma Dumont.
The co-main event will feature a heavyweight battle between former champion Andrei Arlovski and Brazilian prospect Carlos Felipe.
UFC Fight Night: Ladd vs. Dumont
An exciting bantamweight clash between former champion Miesha Tate and Ketlen Vieira was originally scheduled to feature as the main event of the night. However, the bout had to be scrapped after 'Cupcake' tested positive for COVID-19 in September.
It would have been Tate's second octagon appearance since making an explosive return in July with a TKO victory over Marion Reneau. The fight has been rebooked as the main event for UFC Fight Night 198 on November 20.
Following Tate's withdrawal from the fight, a women's featherweight fight between another former 135-pound champion, Holly Holm, and Norma Dumont was elevated to the main event status. However, Holm had to pull out of the contest as well owing to a knee injury.
Aspen Ladd stepped up on short notice to replace 'The Preacher's Daughter' against Norma Dumont. The 26-year-old will be making her featherweight debut.
Even with big names like Miesha Tate and Holly Holm out of the picture, the UFC Vegas 40 main event is an important one for the 145-pound weight class. The women's featherweight division is one of the shallowest in the UFC. It shouldn't take either of this weekend's headliners too many wins to earn themselves a title shot against champion Amanda Nunes.
Norma Dumont holds a 2-1 record in the UFC. Her current streak of two wins includes a split decision victory over former title challenger Felicia Spencer.
Aspen Ladd, meanwhile, has been impressive as well. She boasts four wins and only one loss in the promotion. However, she has frequently struggled to make the bantamweight limit. Ladd has missed weight on three different occasions in her career, twice in the UFC and once in Invicta FC.
Aspen Ladd was slammed by Miesha Tate following her most recent weight miss, which happened two weeks ago. She was originally supposed to fight Macy Chiasson in the UFC Vegas 38 co-main event. After a huge initial weight miss, Ladd officially came in one pound over the mark.
However, she appeared visibly shaken and in bad condition while standing on the scale. The fight was canceled after Chiasson refused to go ahead at catchweight.
Ladd later made an apology on social media, but Miesha Tate slammed her nonetheless for trying to "cheat" on the scale.
Both Aspen Ladd and Norma Dumont have successfully made weight for Saturday's event.
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