Felice Herrig out of UFC 238 after suffering torn ACL

Bloodyelbow.com

A serious injury will prevent Felice Herrig from having her next fight in her home state of Illinois.

The veteran UFC strawweight released a video on her Instagram page confirming that she’s out of her UFC 238 bout vs. Yan Xiaonan, citing a torn ACL that will require surgery.

“Unfortunately on Friday I tore my ACL and I do need surgery, which means I will not be fighting on [UFC 238]” Herrig said (via MMA Fighting). “I just want to say I’m sorry to the fans, to the UFC and most definitely my opponent. I hope she gets a replacement, there’s still enough time. As for me, what can you do? All I can do is move forward and stay positive and work on my recovery and come back stronger than ever. In the mean time, I hope everybody send me warm wishes and hugs and virtual kisses and prayers. Just know that I will be back.”

Herrig (14-8) is currently on a two-fight losing streak, with a close loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz and a more clear-cut decision defeat vs. Michelle Waterson at UFC 229. She’d previously racked up four straight wins to put herself into title contention, most notably edging out Cortney Casey on the scorecards and pulling off what was then considered an upset over Alexa Grasso.

With news of this torn ACL, unfortunately it appears as if the next time we’ll see Herrig inside the Octagon is in 2020.

Per UFC officials, replacing Herrig will be fellow TUF 20 cast member Angela Hill, who’s coming off beating Jodie Esquibel by unanimous decision at UFC Fort Lauderdale last weekend. This is her second consecutive short notice fight.

UFC 238, set for June 8th in Chicago, is headlined by a vacant men’s bantamweight title bout between Henry Cejudo and Marlon Moraes, with flyweight champ Cejudo seeking to become a simultaneous two-division king. In the co-main event, women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko faces off against Jessica Eye.