UFC 331 Reportedly Shifting Venue Soon After First Fight Finalized

Though two months still remain before it unfolds, more details are beginning to emerge about one of the UFC’s most anticipated numbered events in the second half of the year. With just one fight announced, UFC 331 still remains surrounded by mystery regarding the headlining bout.

Amid that uncertainty, however, a new update suggests the UFC might consider shifting the event’s location to an altogether new location.

“UFC is shifting locations to The Crypto Arena in Los Angeles. The date remains the same September 19th #UFC331,” read MMA insider Kevin’s X post.

It follows his previous tweet dated July 6, which read, “Fight location UFC 331 will be at Inglewood, California, inside The Intuit Dome (On) September 19th.”

While the UFC has not officially confirmed the move from Intuit Dome in Inglewood to Crypto.com Arena in Downtown Los Angeles, it is likely they will do so very soon. For the time being, the promotion’s official schedule only features events up to the September 5 Fight Night, scheduled to take place in Paris, France. So it would be mere speculation as to why the UFC took the decision to change the location well ahead of the event itself.

While rumors indicate the event could be headlined by featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski’s title defense against number-one-ranked contender Movsar Evloev, the co-main is rumored to feature a potential fight between Charles Oliveira and Diego Lopes for the BMF title. In that mix, the only matchup that has been confirmed so far remains the bout between former title challenger Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera and Charles Jourdain.

Part of the answer to the location change may lie in what one of the users commented on Kevin’s tweet.

The event schedule at the Intuit Dome shows Mexican pop-rock band Maná performing on September 18 and September 19, with both shows scheduled for 8:30 pm. UFC 331 is expected to unfold on September 19, which means a potential clash of dates for the venue. So it’s likely the UFC would want to avoid the clash and move the show to another venue with a more open calendar.

By comparison, the September schedule at the Crypto Arena shows only one event, a game between the women’s professional basketball team Los Angeles Sparks and Portland Fire, scheduled for September 20, the day after UFC 331 is expected to take place. Performances by rock band Journey and South Korean girl group Le Sserafim are lined up for the previous weekend on September 12 and 16, respectively.

Taken together, the schedule appears to align with the report.

History on its side: Why the UFC could return to Crypto.com Arena

For the record, the venue is not altogether new for the UFC either. During its time as the Staples Center (October 1999 to December 2021), the venue hosted a large number of events for the promotion, such as UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun (2009), UFC 184: Rousey vs. Zingano (2015), and UFC 227: Dillashaw vs. Garbrandt II in August 2018. It had also hosted the UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera back in August 2012, before becoming known as the Crypto Arena in 2021.

Also, the practice of changing the venue well ahead of time is not an unprecedented one either.

The most recent example that comes to mind is the April 18 Fight Night in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. With the welterweight bout between former UFC challenger Gilbert Burns and Mike Malott headlining it, the show was initially supposed to take place in Ottawa, Ontario.

However, for reasons that remained undisclosed, it later emerged that Fight Night will take place at Winnipeg’s Canada Life Centre, marking the UFC’s return to the city after a gap of ten years.

Notably, the UFC has frequently relied on the UFC Apex in Las Vegas as a flexible option for staging its Fight Night events.

Viewed in that context, the promotion may have felt that, given the date clash with a musical act, it would be prudent to shift the card to a different venue that offers greater seating capacity. Against Intuit Dome’s maximum capacity of 18,000-plus, the Crypto Arena can accommodate close to twenty thousand spectators.

With the venue question now potentially moving closer to resolution, attention will likely turn to who ends up headlining the card.

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