Due to an injury and a failed weight cut, UFC Atlantic City has two less fights.
Earlier today (April 20) the UFC Atlantic City weigh-ins took place. Two fighters missed weight. Those competitors were headliner Kevin Lee and Aspen Ladd. Lee was one pound over, while Ladd was 1.8 pounds over. Edson Barboza agreed to fight Lee anyway, but Ladd’s opponent wasn’t as forgiving.
Ladd was set to take on Leslie Smith. After Ladd made weight, negotiation attempts were made. Instead, Smith decided not to take the fight. It was going to be featured on the preliminary portion of the card.
Ladd issued an apology:
I apologize to my opponent @ufc @UFCFightPass @Mickmaynard2 @danawhite my team, my fam and all the fans. I was 1.8 lbs over, I was told she would not take the fight. We offered an additional $5,000 along with the 20% purse deduction, no go on her end, I tried to make it right.
— Aspen Ladd (@AspenLaddMMA) April 20, 2018
During the weigh-ins, Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com reported that Magomed Bibulatov was forced out of his bout with Ulka Sasaki. Bibulatov is battling a back injury and the pain was too great to deal with. The injury had flared up overnight.
UFC Atlantic City takes place tomorrow night. The action will be held inside the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Preliminary action will begin at 7 p.m. ET. The fights then move on to FOX Sports 1 for continued preliminary action. You’ll want to stay on FS1 as the main card will be aired live on the network as well.
MMANews.com will be providing live coverage of UFC Atlantic City. Be sure to stick with us for predictions, results, highlights, and post-fight tidbits.
Were you looking forward to either of the canceled UFC Atlantic City fights?