Harris off UFC card as search for child continues

UFC heavyweight Walt Harris will not compete against Alistair Overeem in the scheduled UFC Washington headliner Dec. 7, Harris’ manager Jason House told ESPN on Friday.

Harris’ stepdaughter Aniah Blanchard, 19, has been missing since Oct. 24. Harris alerted the public last week of Blanchard’s status via social media, and the MMA community has chipped in on the effort to find her. UFC president Dana White and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones have each pledged $25,000 to the reward fund for information about those involved in her disappearance. That fund has increased to a total of $80,000 as of Thursday.

Police in Auburn, Alabama, said Thursday that they now believe Blanchard, a student at Southern Union State Community College, was a victim of foul play.

Harris (13-7, 1 NC) is unbeaten in his past four fights. The Alabama native is coming off a 12-second knockout of Aleksei Oleinik at UFC San Antonio in July.

Harris, 36, would have been competing in the most high-profile bout of his career against Overeem, a former Strikeforce champion and future UFC Hall of Famer. It’s unclear if Overeem will remain on the Washington card.

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