WSOF president Ray Sefo appeared recently on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour and reported that the promotion would cancel two shows in order to put on a best ever event on December 31 at Madison Square Garden.
The canceled shows are WSoF 35 which had been planned for December 3, and WSoF which had been scheduled for November 12. A further spur to the change was that UFC 205 is also taking place on November 12. Further, heavyweight champ Blagoy Ivanov had been scheduled to headline WSoF 35 but is out with an injury.
“Them going there, we think it’s gonna be their night,” said Sefo of the UFC, as transcribed by Scott Harrisfor B/R. “And so New Year’s Eve is gonna be ours.”
The WSoF 34 main event Jon Fitch and Jake Shields has been moved to WSoF 36 in New York, where it will serve as the co-main. The main event will see lightweight champion Justin Gaethje challenged by Joao Zeferino. Yushin Okami and Paul Bradley will fight on the undercard, as will Marlon Moraes whose opponent has yet to be named.
“After a few weeks of discussion … we have decided to move our main event, which is Jon Fitch and Jake Shields for that card, and move it to our New Year’s Eve card in Madison Square Garden’s theater,” said Sefo. “We’ve just decided to merge those two cards together and have an even bigger show in New York City.”
“This is huge for us.”
