UFC Cancels UFC 233 in Anaheim, Fights Being Shifted to New Cards

The UFC has decided to cancel the upcoming UFC 233 card scheduled for the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. on Jan. 26.

With time running out until the event was scheduled to take place and no main event secured, the promotion announced on Tuesday that the would be scrapping the entire card.

“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.”

The UFC has been scrambling for weeks trying to find a worthwhile main event for the card in Anaheim.

Originally, the UFC had hoped to promote two title fights for the card with flyweight champion Henry Cejudoa already booked to face T.J. Dillashaw. Unfortunately, the UFC then needed a main event for their debut ESPN card on Jan. 19 so Cejudo vs. Dillashaw was shifted to that show instead.

That left UFC 233 without a title fight or any main event.

The focus then shifted towards a welterweight title fight but champion Tyron Woodley was still recovering from thumb surgery after just competing three months ago and he was unable to compete.

The UFC attempted to cobble together several potential matchups and even floated the idea of introducing an interim title but nothing was ever finalized. That ultimately led to the decision to scrap UFC 233 completely with plans to rebook the fights already signed for that card to different events.

As of now there’s no word where those fights will end up but it’s expected the UFC will begin announcing those moves in the coming days.