Historic women's MMA bout cancelled after fighter badly misses weight
ONE FC's highly anticipated -- and historic -- women's fight was canceled Thursday after one of the combatants failed to make weight.
Sherilyn Lim, who was set to face Ann Osman on Friday in Malaysia, came 3kgs over weight, which equates to nearly seven pounds more than the 115-pound limit. Osman, a Malaysia native, would have become the first Muslim female MMA fighter to ever compete in a Muslim country. A story about the two fighters made the New York Times this week.
"A fighter has essentially two jobs -- to make weight and fight," a ONE FC representative told FOX Sports under condition of anonymity. "She couldn't make weight."
In the event of a fighter missing weight, ONE FC typically gives the opponent an option to fight at a catchweight. Because Lim, from Singapore, was so far over, that wasn't even in play this time.
Osman wrote on Facebook that Lim was "emotionally unstable, making her physically and mentally unprepared to fight."
"No words are enough to express how disappointed I am with this situation," Osman wrote. "I together with my coaches, teammates, family and friends have sacrificed a lot for weeks to gear me up for this fight."
No decision has been made with regards to putting Osman on an upcoming show. ONE FC has two events in May -- one in the Philippines and one in Singapore.
