UFC 233

UFC 233 was a planned mixed martial arts event that was rescheduled to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on January 26, 2019 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.[1][2] The promotion initially announced on December 12, 2018 that the event had been "postponed" and would be rescheduled for a later date. However, the event was ultimately cancelled.[3][4]

UFC 233
The poster for UFC 233.
Information
PromotionUltimate Fighting Championship
DateJanuary 26, 2019 (cancelled)
VenueHonda Center
CityAnaheim, California
Event chronology
UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw UFC 233 UFC Fight Night: Assunção vs. Moraes 2

Background

Initially, the promotion was planning a UFC Flyweight Championship bout between 2008 Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling and current champion Henry Cejudo and two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion T.J. Dillashaw to headline this event.[5][6] If successful, Dillashaw would have become the fourth fighter to be champion in two divisions simultaneously (after Conor McGregor at UFC 205, Daniel Cormier at UFC 226 and Amanda Nunes at UFC 232). According to sources, the promotion was expected to dissolve the flyweight division at some point within 2019.[7] However, on December 5, the pairing was moved and took place a week earlier at UFC Fight Night 143, headlining the promotion's inaugural event on ESPN+. In turn, promotion officials tried to arrange a new pairing to anchor the event.[8]

However, the promotion announced plans in mid-December to postpone the event after they determined that they could not arrange a suitable headlining bout.[3] All previously scheduled fights for this event are expected to remain intact and be rescheduled for other events, with the numbered events still maintaining their original titles.[9] This was the fourth time, following UFC 151 in August 2012, UFC 176 in August 2014 and UFC Fight Night: Lamas vs. Penn in October 2016, that the promotion was forced to cancel an event because of a lack of a high profile fight to fill a main event spot.[9]

A lightweight bout between James Vick and Paul Felder was initially scheduled to take place in July 2018 at UFC Fight Night: dos Santos vs. Ivanov. However, Vick was pulled from that bout in late June to act as a replacement against former WSOF Lightweight Champion Justin Gaethje at UFC Fight Night: Gaethje vs. Vick and the bout was scrapped.[10] The pairing was rescheduled for this event.[11]

Islam Makhachev was expected to face Francisco Trinaldo at the event. However, on November 11, 2018 it was reported that Makhachev pulled out from the fight for an undisclosed reason and he was replaced by Alexander Hernandez.[12] In turn, Hernandez was pulled from that fight in favor of a bout with UFC Lightweight Championship challenger Donald Cerrone a week earlier at UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw.[13]

A women's flyweight bout between KSW Women's Flyweight Champion and promotional newcomer Ariane Lipski and Joanne Calderwood was initially scheduled for the event.[14] However, it was reported on December 2 that the bout had been rescheduled for the first event on ESPN+ instead.[15]

A bantamweight bout between former WEC and two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz and John Lineker was scheduled for the event. However, on December 11, it was announced that Cruz suffered from a shoulder injury and pulled from the event.[16] As a result of the cancellation of UFC 233, Lineker was scheduled to face Cory Sandhagen at UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw.[17]

Cancelled fight card
Main Card
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Welterweight Robbie Lawler vs. Ben Askren [lower-alpha 1]
Flyweight Joseph Benavidez vs. Deiveson Figueiredo [lower-alpha 2]
Women's Strawweight Cortney Casey vs. Cynthia Calvillo [lower-alpha 3]
Lightweight James Vick vs. Paul Felder [lower-alpha 4]
Women's Strawweight Aleksandra Albu vs. Emily Whitmire [lower-alpha 5]
Middleweight Markus Perez vs. Anthony Hernandez [lower-alpha 6]
Women's Bantamweight Marion Reneau vs. Yana Kunitskaya [lower-alpha 7]
Featherweight Kron Gracie vs. Alex Caceres [lower-alpha 8]
Bantamweight Manny Bermudez vs. Benito Lopez [lower-alpha 9]
  1. Moved to UFC 235.[18]
  2. Matchup scrapped.[19][20]
  3. Moved to UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Velasquez.[21]
  4. Moved to UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Velasquez.[22]
  5. Moved to UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Velasquez.[22]
  6. Moved to UFC Fight Night: Assunção vs. Moraes 2.[21]
  7. Moved to UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. dos Santos.[21]
  8. Moved to UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Velasquez.[23]
  9. Moved to UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Velasquez.[22]

[24]

See also

References
  1. Lance Pugmire (2018-10-30). "UFC 233 coming to Anaheim on Jan. 26; fights to be determined". latimes.com. Retrieved 2018-10-31.
  2. Adam Guillen Jr. (2018-10-30). "UFC 233 goes head-to-head with Bellator Grand Prix Finals on January 26 in California". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2018-10-31.
  3. Brett Okamoto (2018-12-12). "UFC 233 to move from January to a later date". espn.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  4. MMA Fighting Newswire (2018-12-12). "UFC cancels UFC 233 card in Anaheim". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  5. Staff (2018-11-09). "T.J. Dillashaw moving down to face flyweight champ Henry Cejudo at UFC 233". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2018-11-09.
  6. Staff (2018-11-26). "Henry Cejudo vs. T.J. Dillashaw flyweight title fight official for UFC 233 in Anaheim". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  7. Mookie Alexander (2018-11-07). "UFC will dissolve men's flyweight division, likely by end of 2018". bloodyelbow.com. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  8. Tristen Critchfield (2018-12-05). "Henry Cejudo vs. T.J. Dillashaw moved from UFC 233 to headline UFC debut on ESPN+". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
  9. Staff (2018-12-12). "UFC scratches UFC 233 card on Jan. 26 as part of pay-per-view schedule change". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  10. Alexander K. Lee (2018-06-28). "UFC announces James Vick as replacement for Al Iaquinta vs. Justin Gaethje in UFC Lincoln main event". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  11. David Tees (2018-11-06). "James Vick faces Paul Felder At UFC 233". fightful.com. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  12. Lucas Rezende (2018-11-11). "Report: Alexander Hernandez steps in for Islam Makhachev against Francisco Trinaldo at UFC 233". bloodyelbow.com. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  13. Mike Bohn (2018-12-08). "Donald Cerrone meets Alexander Hernandez in return to lightweight for ESPN featured bout Jan. 19". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  14. Ariel Helwani (2018-11-08). "Joanne Calderwood-Ariane Lipski flyweight fight added to UFC 233". espn.com. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  15. Drake Riggs (2018-12-03). "Ariane Lipski vs Joanne Calderwood moved from UFC 233 to UFC Brooklyn". bjpenn.com. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  16. John Morgan (2018-12-11). "Dominick Cruz injured, UFC 233 clash with John Lineker in jeopardy". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  17. Staff (2018-12-22). "John Lineker vs. Cory Sandhagen added to UFC on ESPN+ 1 in Brooklyn". mmajunkie. Retrieved 2018-12-23.
  18. Shaun Al-Shatti (2018-12-13). "Ben Askren vs. Robbie Lawler rescheduled for UFC 235". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  19. Thomas Gerbasi (2018-12-13). "2019 fight updates". ufc.com. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  20. Staff (2018-12-13). "Joseph Benavidez named Cejudo-Dillashaw backup for UFC on ESPN+ 1; fight vs. Figueiredo off". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  21. Staff (2018-12-12). "Multiple UFC 233 fights get new dates, locations after Jan. 26 card scratched". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  22. Marcel Dorff (2018-12-13). "Many battles of canceled UFC 233 card moved to other events" (in Dutch). mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  23. Staff (2018-12-13). "UFC on ESPN 1 card in Phoenix filling up with new matchups, UFC 233 fight scratches". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  24. "UFC 233". Ultimate Fighting Championship. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
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