UFC light heavyweight Corey Anderson is one of many fighters speaking up about the move of UFC 232 from Las Vegas to Los Angeles with less than a week until the show.
The last minute move of UFC 232 from Las Vegas to Los Angeles has impacted many. Fans, many of whom had made travel and lodging arrangements, may be out serious coin from the move. While UFC President Dana White has suggested accommodations will be made, it’s likely many will be out of luck when all is said and done. Then there’s Jon Jones’ fellow fighters. Jones, of course, is the reason the event is being moved, thanks to the results of a USADA drug test coming back “atypical.” One of those fighters, fellow light heavyweight contender Corey Anderson, was already traveling to Vegas when the news broke. And he has let his feelings be known.
Writing on Instagram, Anderson released the following statement:
If we all said no we won’t travel again would they just take Jones off the card and keep it in Vegas? Or book 11 new fights, continue the move to LA, and keep the main event the same? Alot of money has been spent in travel fees for my family to be in VEGAS for this fight. I’m not even mad… just disappointed in the company I bust my ass for EVERYDAY, make sure my piss and blood is clean EVERYDAY, and represent myself like a professional EVERYDAY for. Just so clowns who sell alot of tickets and make alot of money could f*ck up EVERYDAY and still get a pat on the back and told “Don’t worry, it’s not your fault,” because at the end of the day they sell.
I’m also currently on my 5 hr flight to Vegas with my wife who is 7 months pregnant on the border of not being able to travel and spent an hr and a half walking through Newark sh*t show of an airport, now we have to land get our sh*t, figure out what’s next, load up and hassle through the airport, and travel again. The law says “drive sober or get pulled over” the UFC should be “piss clean or hit the streets” even if you making loads of money. But again I’m not pissed just highly disappointed.
Anderson most certainly has a point. The UFC’s decision to make an exception for Jones and move an entire card has put added strain on fighters during fight week. It’s especially puzzling with another title fight on the card, and a date presumably available in Anaheim on January 26, when the now-cancelled UFC 233 was scheduled. Even if that date is too soon to throw a card together for, there were options a plenty that could have made life easier for all involved.
Then again, it’s a business, right? Anderson is set to face Ilir Latifi at UFC 232, and enters the fight on a two-fight win streak.
