UFC 232 fighters set to be hit in pocket after event rescheduled

Earlier this week, it was announced that the UFC had taken the unprecedented step to move its entire UFC 232 card from Las Vegas, Nevada to Inglewood, California. Now, it appears that fighters on the card will not only be inconvenienced by the last-minute move, but hit financially, too.

As noted by veteran MMA reporter Ariel Helwani on Twitter, Nevada carries no state income tax, while California has amongst the highest in the US. This effectively means that some stars will be set to fall into the highest bracket of 12.3%, and even those earning less than $8,015 can expect to have 1% of their fight purse deducted.

Helwani also implied that fighters could expect to foot at least some of the bill for additional travel expenses and accommodation for themselves and their team.

I’ve heard from several fighters on the card that, in addition to added travel expenses, this part stings the most. Nevada has no state income tax, while California does (breakdown is below). That obviously wasn’t accounted for. https://t.co/CaA9fdur5U

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 27, 2018

The decision to move UFC 232 from the T-Mobile Arena to Inglewood’s The Forum came on the back of a USADA drug testing ‘abnormality’ affecting headliner Jon Jones, who is set to rematch with Sweden’s Alexander Gustafsson on Saturday night for the vacant light heavyweight championship.

Controversy continues to follow Jones

Jones is, of course, no stranger to controversy, having served a 15-month suspension after tested positive for Turinabol prior to his 2017 bout with Daniel Cormier. Ultimately, as noted by UFC president Dana White and vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky earlier in the week, “Bones”‘ abnormality stemmed from a long-term metabolite from the substance he was previously sanctioned for remaining in his system.

Novitzky was quick to point out that the amount found by USADA doping control was in “picogram levels”, providing no performance-enhancing benefits and being indicative of no ‘fresh’ ingestion of banned substances. As it turned out, however, the Nevada Athletic Commission was not willing to issue a fighter’s license to Jones until it has had the opportunity to hold a full hearing, leading the UFC hierarchy to take drastic action.

The California State Athletic Commission, being intimately familiar with the nature of Jones’ previous indiscretions given they happened under its jurisdiction, was more willing to give the 31-year-old the benefit of the doubt. That said, Jones was only licensed in the state under the condition that he immediately enrol in the VADA drug testing program, which has no financial relationship with his employer.

It’s not just the fighters and fans that are set to lose out financially as a result of the late venue change. In a media call, White indicated that the initial gate of UFC 232 was expected to be in the $6 million range; following the switch to the lower-capacity Forum, he now expects this to be closer to a total of $1 million.