Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. Kevin
Holland is still on track to have three
Ultimate Fighting Championship fights in three months, no
matter what. Late Wednesday night,
MMA Fighting first reported that Holland (19-5) will no longer
be facing Makhmud
Muradov (24-6) at
UFC Fight Night 181 on Saturday. Muradov’s removal was due to a
positive COVID-19 test, the fighter announced this on
Instagram shortly after the report came out. In Muradov’s stead
will be newcomer Charlie
Ontiveros (11-6), who will be stepping up a weight class to
face Holland at middleweight on just a few days’ notice.
Ontiveros was previously tapped once before to step in and make his
UFC debut in July, when he was planning on replacing Eric
Spicely against Markus
Perez. Ontiveros was not
cleared for competition in time, so Perez had to wait several
more months to compete. The former
Fury Fighting Championship competitor will step into the
Octagon on the heels of two first-round knockouts in 2019. Each of
Ontiveros’ appearances as a pro have come with Fury FC, Legacy Fighting Championship, Legacy Fighting Alliance or Bellator MMA, with the latter an ill-fated meeting
with Michael
Page in 2015.
Holland is looking for his fourth win in 2020, as he has racked up
victories over Anthony
Hernandez, Joaquin
Buckley and Darren
Stewart since May. The middleweight kickboxer with a 79 percent
finish rate has
his sights set on a prospective matchup against Mike Perry,
as the welterweight brawler
recently lost his high-stakes bout with Robbie
Lawler. This will be Holland’s 12th bout since the beginning of
2018, and his ninth inside the Octagon since his signing on
Dana White’s Contender Series.
While Holland has been active even during the pandemic, Muradov has
been completely out of action this year for a variety of reasons.
When a bout in March with Antonio
Carlos Jr. nixed when the Brazilian suffered an injury, Muradov
tries to make a quick turnaround against Karl
Roberson – but that event was canceled due to the coronavirus
pandemic. Muradov was originally slated to meet Krzysztof
Jotko on this Oct. 31 card, but that bout has transformed from
Muradov-Jotko to Holland-Ontiveros due to withdrawals. This latest
pullout came courtesy of a positive COVID-19 test for Muradov.
UFC Fight Night 181 goes down on Halloween at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas. Headlining the first-ever show on the October holiday will
be a middleweight thriller between Uriah Hall
and Anderson
Silva. Drawing the co-main assignment is a frighteningly fun
featherweight fight as Bryce
Mitchell takes on Andre
Fili.
