UFC 232 fighters share frustration about card’s location change

When the Nevada State Athletic Commission refused to license Jon Jones for UFC 232, which was scheduled for December 29 in Las Vegas, Nevada, the UFC elected to move the entire fight card to Inglewood, California on the same night.

Some UFC 232 fighters have managed to maintain a pretty nonchalant outlook on this whole situation, such as BJ Penn, who is scheduled to fight Ryan Hall at UFC 232.

“I always wanted to kick Ryan Hall’s ass in LA,” Penn told BJPENN.com on Sunday.

UFC welterweight Siyar Bahadurzada, who will fight Curtis Millender on the card, has found a similar silver lining.

https://twitter.com/Siyarized/status/1077005258436399104

Jones’ opponent Alexander Gustafsson also seems to be taking this change in stride.

https://twitter.com/AlexTheMauler/status/1077064742684880896

That being said, a number of fighters scheduled to compete on the UFC 232 card are not happy about the event’s location change.

Corey Anderson, for example, who is scheduled to fight Ilir Latifi on the card, is disappointed that he and his pregnant wife are going to have to do additional traveling. Anderson released a lengthy statement on the situation on social media.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Brwm4a5DBkk/

As luck would have it Anderson received a nice offer from Michael Chiesa, who’s scheduled to fight Carlos Condit on the card, which will hopefully ease his situation.

Hey @CoreyA_MMA, I’m here in Vegas now. I got a car if you need a ride, an air bnb with a room if you need somewhere to crash and a helping hand for anything you and your family need brother. https://t.co/sin5f9nHf5

— Michael Chiesa (@MikeMav22) December 24, 2018

UFC bantamweight Brian Kelleher is also frustrated by this development, and the complications it adds to his family’s travel plans.

Can I have some of Jon Jones purse though as reimbursement to the family that I have flying down to Vegas and the hotels booked ? @ufc

— Brian BOOM Kelleher (@brianboom135) December 24, 2018

UFC 232 co-main event fighter, UFC featherweight champ Cris Cyborg, is also working on adjusting her travel plans.

Anyone know a good travel agent? #UFC232 asking for #CyborgNation pic.twitter.com/Nmk6sHxkuB

— CrisCyborg.Com (@criscyborg) December 24, 2018

UFC featherweight contender Megan Anderson, who is scheduled to fight former bantamweight title challenger Cat Zingano, is not happy about this news either.

Thanks Jon… pic.twitter.com/OyuepFQZMd

— Megan Anderson (@MeganAnderson) December 23, 2018

A big part of Anderson’s gripe seems to be that she learned of this chaotic situation on social media. Unsurprisingly, she would have appreciated some correspondence from the UFC directly.

Or maybe a fighter on the card that had to find out through the internet… https://t.co/qNmwMdFSlN

— Megan Anderson (@MeganAnderson) December 23, 2018

From the sounds of it, Anderson is not the only fighter who learned of this unfortunate news on 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

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 12/23/2018.