UFC 233: Why the Anaheim Event Was Canceled
UFC 233 was scheduled for January 26, 2019, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, but the event did not take place. The UFC announced its postponement in December 2018, and the planned card was canceled as bouts moved to other events. Its place in the numbered-event sequence is therefore a scheduling story, with no completed UFC 233 fights or official results.
Read UFC’s official announcement on the UFC 233 postponement.
How the Anaheim card disappeared
The promotion had included Anaheim in its early 2019 schedule. A flyweight championship meeting between Henry Cejudo and bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw was associated with the card before that matchup moved to the UFC’s ESPN+ debut in Brooklyn.
On December 12, 2018, the UFC announced that the January 26 pay-per-view was postponed. Contemporary reporting described the Anaheim show as canceled. Although the promotion said its 2019 calendar would still include twelve pay-per-view events, UFC 233 itself did not later return as a completed card.
The fights belonged to other events
Cejudo’s 32-second stoppage of Dillashaw occurred on January 19, 2019, at UFC Fight Night in Brooklyn. It was not a January 26 title defense in Anaheim. Joanne Calderwood’s decision victory over Ariane Lipski also took place on the Brooklyn event.
Ben Askren’s UFC debut against Robbie Lawler happened at UFC 235 on March 2, 2019, in the Las Vegas area. Askren won that contest by technical submission with a bulldog choke. Including either bout in a UFC 233 results list would combine separate events into a card that never happened.
Why the numbering skips from 232 to 234
The next completed numbered pay-per-view after UFC 232 retained the UFC 234 designation. That Melbourne event proceeded in February 2019 despite its own late change of headliner. The missing number does not represent an unreported set of fights.
For readers following the UFC’s historical archive, the essential distinction is between a bout being proposed for a card and a fight actually taking place there. UFC 233 had plans, announcements and subsequent changes, but no fight-night recap, winners or championship outcome of its own.
UFC 233 event status and results
- Event status — canceled; originally scheduled for January 26, 2019, in Anaheim.
- Completed fights — none.
- Official UFC 233 winners and results — none.
Sources
UFC updates on relocated bouts.
Article Tags
UFC, UFC 233, Mixed Martial Arts
