UFC scraps plans for event the night before UFC 209

The UFC had big plans for a dual-event weekend this March, as they hoped to promote a fight night card on the Friday immediately before UFC 209, which is scheduled for Saturday, March 4th in Las Vegas. Apparently, however, the organization has nixed these plans.

This news was confirmed by MMAJunkie.com.

Like UFC 209, this event was supposed to occur in Las Vegas. Plans for this Friday event were announced back in November, though a venue was never confirmed, and no fights were ever tacked onto the bill.

This development marks the second change to the UFC calendar in 2017 alone. The organization previously cancelled its plans to host UFC 208 in Anaheim, California on January 21. With the cancellation of this Anaheim card, UFC 208 will now occur in Brooklyn, New York on February 11. Given that these kinds of schedule adjustments have been quite rare in the past, we can deduce that the UFC’s new owners, WME-IMG, are a little more easy-going in terms of calendar changes than its previous owners.

Though this March 3rd card was scrapped, UFC 209 will go ahead as planned. The main event will see welterweight champion Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley rematch Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, who he fought to a draw in the co-main event of UFC 205 back in November. The co-main event, though not yet announced by the UFC, will see streaking lightweights Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov vie for the interim lightweight belt in the absence of undisputed champ Conor McGregor. Other fights announced for the card so far include a heavyweight showdown between Mark Hunt and Alistair Overeem, an additional heavyweight contest between Todd Duffee and Mark Godbeer, and a featherweight battle between undefeated prospect Mirsad Bektic and veteran Darren “The Damage” Elkins.

Are you surprised that the UFC scrapped its planned March 3rd card? Which fight on the UFC 209 lineup are you most excited for? Sound off in the comments section, PENN Nation!