Sara McMann announces Aspen Ladd out of UFC San Diego fight

Sara McMann announced on Monday that her bantamweight fight with Aspen Ladd is off.

McMann (13-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC) and Ladd (9-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) were booked to square off Aug. 13 at UFC Fight Night in San Diego, but McMann said on Instagram that Ladd has been forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19 with less than two weeks to go.

“I’m really crossing my fingers and hoping that the UFC is able to find a replacement,” McMann said. “I hope to still fight on that card. I hope that somebody really wants the challenge and wants to get in there and scrap.”

Ladd, 27, is on a recent downswing after a an 8-0 start to her career. In her past four fights, Ladd is 1-3 with back-to-back losses to Norma Dumont and most recently Raquel Pennington this past April at UFC 273.

McMann, 41, is coming a unanimous decision win over Karol Rosa in her most recent fight this past March. A former UFC bantamweight title challenger, McMann is 2-3 in her past five bouts.

The updated UFC San Diego lineup includes:

• Dominick Cruz vs. Marlon Vera

• Viviane Araujo vs. Alexa Grasso

• Aspen Ladd vs. Sara McMann

• Devin Clark vs. Azamat Murzakanov

• Gerald Meerschaert vs. Bruno Silva

• Lukasz Brzeski vs. Martin Buday

• Yazmin Jauregui vs. Iasmin Lucindo

• Gabriel Benitez vs. Charlie Ontiveros

• Nate Landwehr vs. David Onama

• Tyson Nam vs. Ode Osbourne

• opponent TBA vs. Allan Nascimento

Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie