Today while the UFC is in Brazil for UFC Brasilia, back in Las Vegas the home of the promotion the Nevada Athletic Commission was meeting to figure out what they are going to do with all combat sports events in the state for the immediate future.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission announced and held an emergency meeting this afternoon to decide how to move forward with all combat sports events in the state.
At the conclusion of this meeting, the commission voted unanimously to revoke all licenses for combat sports events in the state through March 25.
The commission will reconvene to re-evaluate on March 25.
The UFC on ESPN 8 card, originally set to take place in Columbus, Ohio and moved due to the Coronavirus to Las Vegas and the UFC Apex is scheduled three days later on March 28.
One of my sources in Las Vegas told me that the thought process behind the commission’s decision is 2 weeks from now they feel the world will be in a better place having had the time to do what is necessary to get somewhat of a semblance of control over this virus and the world will be able to go back to work, sooner rather than later.
Unlike the 4 major professional sports leagues here in America that have suspended operations indefinitely, the commission feels that this 2-week window will be enough time to get things back in order, at least that is the hope of the members of the commission.
If things go according to their plan, it will be business as usual in Las Vegas kicking off with the aforementioned UFC on ESPN 8 card from the UFC Apex on March 28th.
Below is a statement from Executive Director Bob Bennett to ESPN regarding the entire situation.
Christopher James has been in the MMA industry for 15 years, Working as a ring announcer for promotions like the XFC, Island Fights, Combat Night and Fight Nights Global during his career. Chris’ love for the sport and the athletes that partake in it led him to writing and doing face to face interviews with the athletes he admired and respected. Chris isn’t conventional by any stretch of the imagination, he has his own style, and takes pride in not being a “cookie-cutter” member of the media. Unique and sometimes controversial takes are what he brings to the table, forcing folks to think a little differently about the world of MMA. He also has a love for music as he has been a dj for 25 years and his love for music gets brought to the MMA world when he gets his guests to sing on his weekly show Cage Side with Christopher James which can be seen Wednesday nights on FACEBOOK LIVE, and soon via podcast.