UFC on ESPN 40 has taken a hit on fight day.
The event will proceed at the UFC Apex with 11 fights following the scratch of Ariane Lipski vs. Priscila Cachoeira. The news was first reported by Combate.
On Friday, Lipski (14-7 MMA, 3-4 UFC) weighed in over the flyweight limit at 128.5 pounds. In her first weight miss during her UFC tenure, she was to be fined 20 percent of her purse and the bout was set to proceed. However, Lipski did not feel well after the weigh-ins and was taken to the hospital. According to the report, Lipski had COVID-19 during her training camp, which her team believes is what led to the weight miss.
Just hours before the event, doctors deemed her medically unfit to compete against Cachoeira (11-4 MMA, 3-4 UFC) and the bout has been scratched from the card.
The matchup will be rescheduled for next week’s UFC on ESPN 41 in San Diego, which is headlined by former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz vs. Marlon Vera.
The rescheduled bout will take place at 135 pounds in an effort to eliminate back-to-back weight cuts, according to a report from MMA Fighting.
With the removal, the UFC on ESPN 40 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET)
- Thiago Santos vs. Jamahal Hill
- Vicente Luque vs. Geoff Neal
- Zac Pauga vs. Mohammed Usman
- Juliana Miller vs. Brogan Walker
- Augusto Sakai vs. Serghei Spivac
- Erick Gonzalez vs. Terrance McKinney
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 7:30 p.m. ET)
- Sam Alvey vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
- Bryan Battle vs. Takashi Sato
- Nate Landwehr vs. Zubaira Tukhugov
- Miranda Granger vs. Cory McKenna
- Stephanie Egger vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
