The UFC has elected to delay a UFC 233 pay-per-view event scheduled on Jan. 26 in Anaheim, California, due to to a combination of factors, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.
The PPV event will be rebooked to a later date, meaning 2019 will still feature 12 PPVs as planned. It has not yet been determined whether Anaheim will host that PPV once it’s rebooked.
A flyweight title fight between Henry Cejudo (13-2) and TJ Dillashaw (16-3) originally was supposed to headline UFC 233, but the promotion moved that to a UFC Fight Night card on ESPN+ on Jan. 19 in Brooklyn, New York. That event is the first for a five-year, $1.5 billion deal between the UFC and ESPN.
The decision to move Cejudo and Dillashaw, paired with several key injuries, are the main reasons behind this move. The UFC wanted welterweight champion Tyron Woodley to headline UFC 233 against Colby Covington, but Woodley is still recovering from a thumb injury suffered in his last title defense in September.
The promotion had already announced several other bouts for UFC 233. Those matchups are expected to be reworked to other events.