UFC Fight Nights at the promotion’s Apex facility in Las Vegas
have recently faced criticism from both fans and fighters.
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After lightweight fan favorite Renato Moicano recently claimed that
“nobody likes the Apex,” flyweight Charles
Johnson has followed suit by complaining about repeatedly
fighting at the venue. Following his promotional debut at UFC
London in July 2022, all of Johnson’s next five outings have been
at the Apex.
As the Missouri native goes into another Fight Night clash against
Azat
Maksum this weekend, “InnerG” feels he has been deprived of the
full UFC experience. Apart from not getting an opportunity to
compete in front of an arena, even Johnson’s request for a Fight
Night ticket for his wife was allegedly turned down more than
once.
“For a time, I enjoyed it but now I’m just kind of irritated with
it because I don’t feel like I’ve been afforded the full UFC
experience. My whole career is gonna be in the f—king Apex, you
know? No fans. I can’t even get my wife in there and my baby girl
‘cause the tickets are f—king $1,600 plus,” Johnson said in an
interview with Jamie Theo.
“They say they don’t have any tickets every time I fight to give me
one ticket for my wife. So, it’s pretty irritating. That’s the most
irritating aspect of it. For it to be in-house and stuff like that
I feel like you could give one seat for my wife or a family
member.”
While the Apex might seem better suited for fighting due to its
quiet atmosphere, fighters aren’t seemingly safe from hecklers
there.
“Outside of that, it’s always this one heckler guy in there, he’s
always heckling people,” Johnson said. “A—hole guy, got money, so
he can be in there. It’s alright. It’s cool. I like the intimacy of
it, being able to hear him breathing and hear everything and stuff,
but after being in the arena in Toronto and in Jacksonville, Vegas,
it’s something about it. I love the fans, man. I love that
energy… When I’m in the Apex, it feels like a spar session. It
doesn’t feel like a real fight a lot of times.”
Johnson will look to bounce back from a three-fight slump when he
faces undefeated Maksum at
UFC Fight Night 235 on Saturday.