Unfortunately for UFC fans, and fans of the women’s side of the sport, the anticipated UFC debut of Aspen Ladd, who was set to meet Jessica “Evil” Eye at the Ultimate Fighter 25 finale, is off. The bout was to take place on the preliminary card this evening. However, the UFC announced the cancellation of the bout, and Eye confirmed the news via her official Instagram page.
In a video statement, Eye said that she had some “some terrible news – my fight is off, unfortunately Aspen is not able to make the fight now. So fight’s off, we’ll have an update on what’s up next. I was extremely ready for this, but I guess something else will happen. We’ll see. Evil’s here, not going anywhere.”
The UFC noted on it’s official website that the reason for the cancellation was an illness suffered by Ladd, but did not disclose the nature of what was ailing her.
As a result, the Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale card, featuring a main event between former WSOF lightweight champ Justin Gaethje and Michael Johnson will continue will eleven fights total. The TUF 25 finale itself features Jesse Taylor (season 7) facing Dhiego Lima (season 19).
The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redempation Finale takes place this evening at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Action will now get underway at 6:30 PM, with the main card getting started at 9PM EST.