Getty General view of the UFC 238 Octagon at United Center on June 8, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois.
The UFC’s plan to move upcoming fights to its Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nev., appears to be in jeopardy after the Nevada Athletic Commission suspended all combat sports events in the state through March 25 during an emergency meeting held on Saturday in the wake of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.
According to The Athletic’s Shaheen Al-Shatti, the NAC announced it will revoke all licenses for combat sports through March 25. While that move won’t immediately affect the planned UFC events for March 28 and April 11, the commission will meet again on March 25 to determine whether it’s safe for those events, among others, to go on as planned.
Per The Athletic’s Mike Coppinger, it’s not likely the NAC will do anything other on that date than extend its decision to revoke licenses.
The UFC had moved its upcoming March 28 event, UFC Fight Night: Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik, from Columbus, Ohio, to its Apex facility in Las Vegas after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine banned gatherings of 100 or more people.
It did the same for it’s April 11 event, UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Harris, after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown banned similar gatherings of 250 or more in that state.
But Nevada’s recent move to suspend all combat sports licenses until at least March 25, and its additional plan to meet again on that date to decide how to proceed further, potentially disrupts the UFC’s current plans.
In fact, there would likely need to be a drastic change for the better by that date for the NAC to consider licensing fights again.
According to Bleacher Report, there are also boxing events scheduled by the PBC and Top Rank that could also be impacted, depending on what the commission decides on March 25 when it reconvenes.
Huge UFC and Boxing Events Halted in Nevada
The NAC’s decision nullifies any plans MMA and boxing promoters might have had about holding combat sports events in Nevada with no fans in order to meet the obligations of their television and streaming platform partners.
With all licenses being suspended, that essentially means any kind of professional fight in the state would be illegal. That huge decision by the NAC brought the combat sports scene in Nevada to its knees and potentially hurts the chances of a large number of important fights happening as scheduled.
That list includes the previously mentioned UFC events as well as two upcoming boxing cards.
Unbeaten former bantamweight titleholder Luis Nery was scheduled to face undefeated contender Aaron Alameda on March 28 in a PBC event from Park Theater at Park MGM in Las Vegas. That card was set to be televised by Showtime. Additionally, IBF junior bantamweight titleholder Jerwin Ancajas’s defense was in the works for April 11 for a Top Rank card on ESPN.
But most importantly, the NAC’s decision keeps other big fights from getting scheduled, most notably Canelo Alvarez’s planned next title fight against BJ Saunders on May 2 in Las Vegas. That fight was reported to be a done deal last week, but now it might be shelved, along with the rest of the action, for some time.
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