UFC 208: What Happened to Anaheim's Winter Card?
Staring down a troubled pay-per-view event in Anaheim to begin 2017, the UFC wisely decided to reschedule the card, rather than force another sub-par event.
The UFC’s return to the Honda Center has been delayed. Originally announced for January 21 in early-November, the UFC pay-per-view card in Anaheim will now take place Aug. 5th.
That Saturday in late-January will now belong to Bellator. Bellator 170, featuring former UFC-stars Tito Ortiz and Chael Sonnen, is being held at The Forum in Inglewood. The site of Michael Bisping’s first-round knockout of Luke Rockhold at UFC 199.
The event in Anaheim would’ve been the first time the Octagon touched down in the Honda Center since Ronda Rousey’s debut with the organization against Liz Carmouche in February of 2013. While fans excited by the initial UFC 208 announcement wouldn’t have expected quite a similarly-historic main event, a title match would’ve been considered appropriate.
There was talk of Michael Bisping’s upcoming foray with Yoel Romero for the middleweight belt, as well as reports of Jimi Manuwa taking on Glover Teixeira for the card. However, Bisping was quick to push his return to the Octagon back, taking time to rest after his five-round battle with Dan Henderson at UFC 204.
California-native Tony Ferguson even told Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour that he was ready-to-go for the card, but an unnamed opponent was unable to sign on the official dotted-line due to being “a little too injured from his last bout”. All the while Wilson Reis and Ulka Sasaki also waited for their heavily-reported fight to be confirmed.
Weeks passed, and fight after fight fell through. A major reason: Sean Shelby and the crew were pulling from a shallow pool of top-tier fighters. Several titles were, and are, on the line to close out 2016. The UFC will also want one, or two, for their new UFC 208, formerly UFC 209, event on February 11 in Brooklyn.
With Bisping ruled-out, and every other title spoken for during the month of January, the promotion was in a tough spot. While they’re currently living through the mess that is UFC 206, repeating the same mistake in six weeks must not have seemed like a great idea. And honestly, we’ll survive a month without a PPV card.
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Injuries, a lack of available titles, and a similarly lacking stable of major stars outside of the belts for UFC 206, helped create the current situation with Conor McGregor and the featherweight title. If UFC 208 was still being held on January 21, the organization would be in a remarkably similar spot.
Scrambling to create another interim belt for the sake of a PPV card is a thought process we all hope the company leaves behind in 2016, and the rescheduling of Anaheim’s event is a step in the right direction.
There’s been an undeniable trend of relatively weak cards following major PPV events in the UFC this year. A glance at the cards for UFC 200 and 201, as well as 205 and 206, are quick evidence of what could’ve been with UFC 208 in Anaheim, as well.
Just a few weeks before the previously scheduled event, Rousey, Dominick Cruz, Cain Velasquez, Fabricio Werdum, and more massive names will be rounding-out the year at UFC 207. With no major fights scheduled for the Anaheim card, and time quickly running out, the only real option was to reschedule the event.
Shooting for more than a PPV event each month, without the depth of talent it requires, has created these situations for the promotion. Throwing in weekends with multiple non-PPV events, and a seemingly always-growing event calendar, are more contributing factors to cancellations like Anaheim, and cards like UFC 206.
Now, we look forward to UFC 206 next weekend, and hope that lessons are learned by the new ownership. UFC 208 will now be a much better card, and the MMA community can survive a month without a PPV event. Anaheim will still get its card, albeit in August, and we’re betting they’ll get the title fight they deserve.
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