The UFC made a major move this weekend, changing the location of Saturday’s UFC 232 card from Las Vegas to Los Angeles a week ahead of the event. The announcement was a shocker to most, including the fighters participating on the card.
ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported that he talked with multiple fighters on the card who all said they found out about the change via social media.
I’ve talked to multiple UFC 232 fighters and/or their reps and every single one said they found out about the location change via Twitter (or some other form of social media).
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 24, 2018
Michael Chiesa, who is facing Carlos Condit on the main card, said he found out that way. So did Megan Anderson.
Or maybe a fighter on the card that had to find out through the internet… https://t.co/qNmwMdFSlN
— Megan Anderson (@MeganA_mma) December 23, 2018
The UFC decided to move the entire Dec. 29 card from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. because of what happened with Jon Jones. The card headliner was set to make his UFC return after a suspension for testing positive for turinabol last year. A pre-fight drug test revealed a trace amount of turinabol in his system, which the Nevada State Athletic Commission wanted to investigate. In the meantime, Jones decided to withdraw his license application in Nevada and instead apply to fight in California, where the state made an exception to allow him to fight despite the finding.
The UFC attributed the trace amount to remnants from Jones’ positive drug test in July 2017.
The UFC could have kept the fight card in Las Vegas as planned but without Jones participating, or they could have done what they did, which was change venues/cities to keep the fight and entire card alive. This is an unfortunate break for all those who made travel plans to be in Las Vegas for the event.
