Hydronephrosis, a swelling of the kidney due to a blockage that prevents the flow of urine, is the condition that forced Albuquerque MMA fighter Holly Holm to postpone her scheduled May 8 fight against Julianna Peña.
But is the fight postponed, or canceled?
After the announcement that Holm (14-5) had to withdraw, Peña (10-4) immediately began campaigning for a title shot against UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.
In an interview following Saturday’s UFC 259, UFC President Dana White seemed to welcome the idea. White has been looking for a bantamweight challenger who hasn’t already fought and lost to Nunes, as has Holm, and Peña qualifies.
Nunes, though, wasn’t as receptive, saying she thought Peña, in Holm’s absence, should be required to fight a rematch against Germaine de Randamie (whom Nunes as defeated twice).
De Randamie defeated Peña by third-round submission (guillotine choke) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Oct. 3, the same night Holm defeated Irene Aldana by unanimous decision.
Such decisions ultimately are made by White, though Nunes (21-4 and the winner of her last 12 fights, almost unanimously considered the world’s best female MMA fighter) certainly should have some say in the matter.
Regarding Holm’s condition, first reported by Albuquerque’s KRQE-TV, Holm said in an Instagram post that it’s something she was born with but that “Just hadn’t had any problems until now. I’m doing great and will be fine.
“A little bump in the road but thankfully it’s fixable.”
According to information available online from the National Kidney Foundation, linked to here, hydronephrosis is “the swelling of a kidney due to a buildup of urine. It happens when urine cannot drain out from the kidney to the bladder from a blockage or obstruction.”
The condition can go undetected until pain suddenly occurs. It can develop as the result of an underlying factor, such as a kidney stone, scar tissue from a previous injury, etc. But it can also be a congenital condition, as apparently is the case with Holm.
Full recovery is most often achieved, as appears to be imminent in Holm’s case.
“I hope to only have to postpone a few weeks from the original date of May 8 to fight,” she wrote.
Whether Peña will be waiting for her is another issue.
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