The Ultimate Fighting Championship apparently didn’t do a good job informing those competing on the UFC 232 card that the event would be relocating from Las Vegas to California on less than one week’s notice.
That event was transferred to Forum in Inglewood, Calif., when the Nevada Athletic Commission declined to license Jon Jones due to an abnormality in one of his drug tests. Jones tested positive for a residual amount of Turinabol metabolite, which anti-doping experts determined was a lingering effect of his failed test for the same banned substance in July 2017. As a result, the promotion elected to move the UFC 232 card in order to keep the main event intact.
Cristiane Justino, who faces Amanda Nunes in the evening’s co-main event, doesn’t believe Jones is guilty of using performance enhancing drugs in this instance, but she wasn’t pleased with the way the UFC decided to relay the information regarding the venue change.
“This is crazy,” Justino said on her video blog. “They’re supposed to contact everybody. We’re partners. We’re partners. We can’t partner together … and they don’t contact you before. But I was in touch with my manager and he didn’t know, too. He was buying gifts for his family. Nobody knows. Just really don’t like. How can you call media and not call your fighters? For you to prepare yourself before and handle things before. How long do they know this?”
“Cyborg” says she is still more than ready to defend her featherweight crown against Nunes, the UFC’s bantamweight queen. However, she feels for the fans who made preparations to watch her fight in Las Vegas.
“I trained for this fight nine months. I want to fight,” she said. “I just feel upset about my fans, the people who bought a ticket. And about family that’s gonna come. But my thoughts continue, I’m gonna fight Amanda. It doesn’t matter where, if you move the city. It’s just, this is really crazy because people bought a ticket, made plans for family in Las Vegas. But in my mind, I’m training, I’m ready, I was ready a long time ago for this fight. I really don’t want to change the date. But I’m sad about the people who cannot come and make it [to] LA.”
However, Justino does reside in California, and she does believe that could allow for more of a home-Octagon advantage come fight night.
“I think for Cyborg Nation fans, it’s gonna be an amazing thing, really,” Cyborg said. “But I know a lot of Cyborg Nation fans already had a lot of tickets for Las Vegas. But for sure you’re gonna have a lot more Cyborg nation fans in California, because it’s the place I live. It’s gonna be I’m fighting in my house now. But I feel sad for the people who made plans. I hope they can make LA, too.”