Cris Cyborg on UFC 232 change: ‘How can you call media and not call your fighters?’

MMAfighting.com

Cris Cyborg was not happy about how she found out her fight was moving to a new city on just days notice.

The UFC women’s featherweight champion said on her video blog that she didn’t like that the UFC didn’t contact the fighters about moving the entire UFC 232 card from Las Vegas to Los Angeles before telling the media.

“This is crazy,” Cyborg said. “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?”

The UFC announced Sunday that the entire event, which is scheduled for this coming Saturday, would be moving from Las Vegas to The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. The Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) would not license Jon Jones to fight in the main event of the card against Alexander Gustafsson due to an adverse finding in Jones’ drug test. Jones is licensed in California and USADA, the UFC’s anti-doping partner, and the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) believe that the adverse finding — low levels of a steroid metabolite — stem from the ingestion that Jones was already suspended 15 months for from last year.

Cyborg said she does not believe Jones is a cheater and she doesn’t mind the fight being in the Los Angeles area, since she lives and trains in nearby Orange County. But she feels bad for the fans who already made accommodations in Las Vegas. UFC 232 tickets will go on sale for The Forum on Wednesday, with a two-hour window given first to those who already had tickets for Las Vegas.

“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.”

Cyborg will be defending her featherweight title against bantamweight champion Amanda Nunesin a highly anticipated superfight in the co-main event of UFC 232. Cyborg said she never had any designs on not fighting this weekend, despite the change.

“I trained for this fight nine months,” Cyborg said. “I want to fight. 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.”