On this day three years ago, UFC 233 joined UFC 151 and UFC 176 as the only two UFC pay-per-views to be cancelled. Below you’ll find our coverage of the announcement the moment it came through.
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[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED DECEMBER 12, 2018, 2:43 PM]
Headline: UFC 233 in Anaheim Scrapped, Fights Being Rebooked on Other Events
Author: Damon Martin
UFC 233 scheduled for Jan. 26 in Anaheim, Calif. has been scrapped after the UFC failed to secure a main event for the upcoming show at the Honda Center.
UFC officials announced the news on Wednesday.
“UFC today announced that the UFC 233 pay-per-view event scheduled for January 26 is postponed,” UFC officials wrote in a statement. “All bouts previously slated for UFC 233 are being rescheduled for upcoming cards. The February 10th pay-per-view event at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne Australia will remain titled UFC 234: Whittaker vs. Gastelum. Tickets for UFC 234 sold out within minutes.
“UFC’s 2019 event calendar will still feature 12 Pay-Per-View events. Additional details about the postponed pay-per-view will be announced at a later date.”
While the UFC is using the language ‘postponed’, UFC 233 has been scrapped completely, although the promotion does still plan on 12 total pay-per-view cards for 2019.
Plans for the main event for UFC 233 were constantly evolving after the flyweight title fight between Henry Cejudo and T.J. Dillashaw was moved from the Anaheim card to Brooklyn to headline the first UFC on ESPN+ card on Jan. 19.
The UFC hoped to schedule a welterweight title fight between Tyron Woodley and Colby Covington but the reigning champion at 170 pounds was still recovering from thumb surgery and wasn’t certain he could compete as early as Jan. 26.
The UFC then began scrambling to try and find all sorts of alternatives to fill the void for the main event but nothing ever came together.
With that, the UFC decided to cancel UFC 233 completely with the fights from that card being shifted to different events in the near future.
There’s no word on where the fights will end up but sources say the UFC has started reaching out to managers to begin talks on moving the bouts to nearby events in January, February or March.
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