Kevin Holland Announces He’s Out of UFC Vegas 16 Headliner

The UFC is going to have to make more, last minute changes, as Kevin Holland’s reporting he has also tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, the rising middleweight will no longer fight contender Jack Hermansson next Saturday.

Holland announces withdrawal

The 28-year-old Holland was tapped as a replacement for Darren Till, who was originally supposed to fight Hermansson on December 5th. But, when Till went down with an injury, Holland stepped up on sort of, short notice.

Holland fought on October 31st and stopped Charlie Ontiveros.

But, recently the surging fighter tweeted out this news (and other outlets have confirmed his withdrawal):

I have been pulled from my main event bout next weekend due to a positive pre fight covid test. Hoping to test clean and get back inside the cage ASAP.

Hopefully Holland (20-5) remains healthy and has a full and speedy recovery. As this post is being written, the UFC has yet to officially announce Holland’s removal or any new plans for next Saturday’s main event.

This is the second UFC main event in recent days to been hit by COVID-19. Recently Curtis Blaydes tested positive for the virus and he was pulled from a scheduled bout with Derrick Lewis.

The heavyweight fight had been set to headliner UFC Vegas 15.

UFC Vegas 16 line-up

Here is the card for UFC Vegas 16 as it stands now, following the withdrawal of Holland (line-up via MMA Mania).

185 lbs.: Jack Hermansson vs. TBD
135 lbs.: Bethe Correia vs. Wu Yanan
265 lbs.: Jake Collier vs. Gian Villante
125 lbs.: Taila Santos vs. Montana De La Rosa
125 lbs.: Cody Durden vs. Jimmy Flick
145 lbs.: Damon Jackson vs. Ilia Topuria
205 lbs.: John Allan vs. Roman Dolidze
205 lbs.: Jamahal Hill vs. Ovince Saint Preux
145 lbs.: Movsar Evloev vs. Nate Landwehr
135 lbs.: Jose Quinonez vs. Louis Smolka
145 lbs.: Gabriel Benitez vs. Justin Jaynes
155 lbs.: Jordan Leavitt vs. Matt Wiman

*card subject to change