Holly Holm Out Of UFC Vegas 40 Headliner, Norma Dumont Now Meets Aspen Ladd On October 16.

Mandatory Credit: Zuffa LLC

Former undisputed UFC bantamweight champion, Holly Holm is out of next weekend's UFC Vegas 40 main event clash against featherweight, Norma Dumont -- with the Brazilian remaining in a main event slot, tackling the #3 ranked bantamweight contender, Aspen Ladd on short-notice, as the latter makes her featherweight bow.

According to a report from reporter, Ariel Helwani on his official Substack page, Albuquerque veteran, Holm has suffered a knee injury -- forcing her to withdraw from next weekend's UFC Apex facility headlining bout.

As a result, Belo Horizonte native, Dumont will remain on the card, taking headlining honors against the aforenoted, Ladd, who makes a turnaround following a botched weight-cut attempt last weekend at UFC Vegas 38 -- which seen her main card slot with Macy Chiasson canceled. ESPN MMA reporter, Brett Okamoto was first to report the news of Dumont's reworked bout with Ladd. 

Forced from her second consecutive Octagon appearance, Holm, a former undisputed bantamweight champion and a perennial contender at 135lbs, was slated to meet with upcoming bantamweight title challenger, Julianna Pena at UFC Vegas 26 in May, citing hydronephrosis. The bout was slated to be Holm's first outing at featherweight since a unanimous decision win over Megan Anderson back at UFC 225 in June 2018. 

For Dumont, she still makes her main event debut for the organization -- currently riding a two-fight winning streak. 

The three-fight promotional alum debuted with a knockout loss against the aforenoted, Anderson, before missing the bantamweight limit against Ashlee Evans-Smith in a unanimous decision win last November. The 6-1 contender handed one-time title challenger, Felicia Spencer a close split decision loss back at UFC Vegas 27 in May.

Slated to meet with The Ultimate Fighter victor, Chiasson last weekend at UFC Vegas 38 -- Folsom native, Ladd has been out of action since a rallying knockout win over Yana Kunitskaya back in December 2019, after suffering a torn ACL and MCL ahead of a matchup with Sara McMann in June of last year.

Last weekend, Ladd tipped the bantamweight scales at 137lbs for a bantamweight rescheduling with Chiasson, with the latter electing against competing in a catchweight bout. As a result the entire pairing was shelved, with Ladd now set to make her featherweight bow next weekend in a main event bout with Dumont.