California cancels combat sports events through May; UFC card affected
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The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) has canceled all combat sports events through the end of May due to the coronavirus pandemic, the state's Department of Consumer Affairs announced Thursday, according to ESPN's Marc Raimondi.
"The commission didn't take this decision lightly and understands the potential economic loss to promoters and the industry of combative sports," the CSAC said in a statement. "We had to weigh the best interest of our fighters and the community around us."
This decision will impact UFC San Diego on May 16, which is scheduled to be headlined by a lightweight bout between Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker. The promotion has yet to comment on the development, but if it wants to proceed with the card, a new location will have to be found.
Bellator was set to host two cards in California in May - Bellator 242 in San Jose and Bellator 243 in Temecula - but the promotion postponed its trio of May events on Monday.
UFC president Dana White has remained adamant about moving forward with planned events, but the promotion's schedule has certainly been disrupted. UFC 249, which is currently without a location, lost its main-event bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson on Wednesday, as the former is stuck in Russia due to travel restrictions.
The UFC has been forced to postpone three events - between March 21 and April 11 - thus far due to the pandemic.