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Saturday 29 december 2018

In Vegas

or La, UFC aCtIon JaCKson

232 Is a

dynamIte

show to

Fans, FIghters

By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) —
Dana White knew the UFC
would take some pretty big
hits, both financial and oth-
erwise, when he moved its
traditional end-of-the-year
show from Las Vegas to
Southern California on six
days’ notice to keep Jon
Jones on the card despite
his latest positive drug test.
Some hits are more dam-
aging than others, how-
ever. According to White,
UFC 232 is going to sell out
the famous Forum on Sat-
urday night, even though
tickets only went on sale
Wednesday.
That’s a statement on Los
Angeles’ passion for mixed
martial arts, but it’s mostly
a testament to the quality
of a show that compelled
fans to travel countless
miles to Vegas — and then
about 250 miles more to
LA. UFC 232 is headlined
by Jones’ return to the
sport in a rematch with Al-
exander Gustafsson for the
light heavyweight title. The
penultimate bout is feath-
erweight champion Cris
“Cyborg” Justino’s super-
fight with bantamweight
champ Amanda Nunes in
perhaps the best matchup
in women’s MMA history.
The big-name undercard
includes former UFC cham-
pions BJ Penn, Carlos Con-
dit and Andrei Arlovski,
along with former title con-
tenders Chad Mendes and Ravens get what they wanted:
Cat Zingano.
With such an irresistible Beat Browns to earn playoffs
slate of fights, the UFC is
closing out the year with
style — even if it’s under
weird circumstances for Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson celebrates after a touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers during the second
the fans and fighters. half in an NFL football game Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Carson, Calif.
Associated Press
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