UFC’s Re-location of 232 Fight Show from Las Vegas to LA Disrespects Nunes-Cyborg Megamatch

By CASSANDRA COUSINEAU

LVSportsBiz.com

 

It’s the biggest women’s fight in UFC history. Sorry Ronda Rousey, but Amanda Nunes vs. Cris “Cyborg” Justino is a mega women’s match for the ages that will take place at UFC 232 Saturday.

 

The only problem is that in an unprecedented decision, UFC moved — with only six days notice — Saturday’s 232 fight show out of state, from Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena to Los Angeles all because Jon Jones failed a drug test and Nevada’s fight regulators at the state athletic commission wouldn’t allow Jones to do battle against Alexander Gustafsson in Nevada Dec. 29.

 

But California’s state regulators said it was OK — and UFC President/ringmaster Dana White used ESPN to tell the world that T-Mobile Arena was out as host of the big fight show and that UFC 232 was being moved to Southern California to keep Jones in the event.

 

That was a direct slap in the face to the Nunes-Cyborg fight, basically telling the MMA and fight world that dropping Jones from the card Saturday in Las Vegas and making Nunes-Cyborg the sole headliner at T-Mobile Arena was not good enough. In essence, White was saying Nunes-Cyborg could not stand alone at the top of the 232 fight card.

 

In its haste to hit the road and keep Jones on the card to make more money, UFC completely disrespected the co-main event of Nunes vs. Cyborg. The women’s featherweight title scrap is set to be the biggest fight in female combat sports history. It’s completely worthy of being moved to the top of the card and headlining UFC 232 in Las Vegas — alone without Jones.

 

And it’s not without precedent that UFC would sub in a match to compensate for the loss of a headliner.

 

Ironically, when Demetrious Johnson vs. Ray Borg was cancelled in Canada, the Nunes vs. Valentina Schevchenko fight was elevated to the revised headliner. Looking back, UFC events in Canada have been revised at least nine times and while never changing venues.

 

The Nunes vs. Cyborg match is worthy of all the hype that White typically extends to fights that include another notorious UFC star besides Jones — Conor McGregor. In the case of Nunes and Cyborg, the battle between two Brazilian superstars will be the first ever champion vs. champion in the UFC’s female divisions. A fight of this caliber has never been made in any combat sport. Period. Here’s Cassandra Cousineau discussing the UFC 232 re-location.

 

 

Cyborg’s dominant 20-1 record during her 13-year career has earned her the label as the most feared fighter on the roster while holding the featherweight title since its inception in July 2017.

 

Nunes has ushered in the post-Ronda Rousey era in the bantamweight division via Nunes’ 48-second KO of Rousey in the main event at UFC 207 two year ago. Take a look at Nunes’ demolition of Rousey here.

 

Tight matches against Shevchenko and an impressive win over Miesha Tate to claim the 135-pound crown in the headliner of the promotion’s 200th card give Nunes a resume with more depth of competition. If she’s able to withstand the power and world-class endurance of Cyborg, Nunes will become the first woman to hold UFC titles in two divisions.

 

“For sure it’s the biggest fight. It’s champion vs. champion. It’ll be exciting,” Nunes told TMZ when asked if this was the biggest fight of her career.

 

She added when asked if it’s bigger than her fight with Rousey. “This is going to be the two most dominant fighters. It’s going to be a good one.”

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White has a history of selling Nunes short when it comes to promotion. After Nunes successfully defended her title by demolishing the heralded Rousey, the bantamweight champion said she felt “alone” and “hurt” during the buildup of that title defense at T-Mobile Arena Dec. 30, 2016. Nunes wasn’t just overlooked, she had to sit at the table while her boss gushed about the return of Rousey in the buildup to UFC 207.

 

Now, nearly two years later to the day, thanks to the UFC promotion’s desire to sanction all things related to Jones, the disrespect toward Nunes is happening again.

 

There is no question this is the biggest women’s MMA fight in UFC history. With that in mind, Saturday’s victor may very well be the G.O.A.T of women’s MMA. And too bad we won’t see it in Las Vegas. Indeed,  it would’ve been a spectacular headliner in Las Vegas.

 

Even T-Mobile Arena was disappointed. Check out the arena’s Twitter post.

 

So, refunds will be issued for the Las Vegas show. However, a call to AXS Tickets revealed that customers will need to buy new seats. There will be no reciprocity.

 

All because the 31-year-old Jones, UFC’s most notorious fighter, had a positive drug test. Again.  Jones was due to return from a 15-month ban to fight Gustafsson in UFC’s year-ending event.

 

Jeff Novitzky, UFC’s  vice president of athlete health and performance, said that this Jones sample is “not a violation” and that the fight will still go ahead. He stressed “And probably more importantly, he retains no performance-enhancing benefits from the small presence of the substance.”

 

The Nevada Athletic Commission didn’t feel the same way. In fact, the athletic commission likely still remembers the last major event held by UFC at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.  You might recall, too, the time when Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor, UFC’s other problem child, only to leap over the top of Octagon to fight McGregor’s trainer at UFC 229 Oct. 6.

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