UFC 233 was scheduled to be the first pay-per-view of 2019 and the card was shaping up to be absolutely stacked. However due to unavoidable reasons, the UFC has been forced to scrap the entire card leaving the fights involved in jeopardy.
One of those fights being a lightweight barn burner between 11 ranked lightweight Paul ‘The Irish Dragon’ Felder (15-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) and #15 ranked James ‘The Texecutioner’ Vick (13-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC).
However the necessary adjustments have been made, and the fight now has a new home in UFC on ESPN 1 on February 17 in Phoenix, Arizona. Interestingly the matchup between Vick and Felder has had it’s own up’s and down’s. (via Twitter):
The Paul Felder vs. James Vick right, which was originally scheduled for UFC 233, is now moving to 2/17 in Phoenix, sources say.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 13, 2018
The duo were set to face each other at Fight Night 133 in July. However Vick was pulled out from the fight in a quest to find an opponent for a main event slot against Justin Gaethje the next month.
Opponent less Paul Felder saw an opening on the UFC 226 card as Yancy Medeiros pulled out due to injury. Felder capitalized on the opportunity to fight Mike Perry at welterweight.
Vick unfortunately suffered a brutal first round knockout loss against Gaethje. Felder on the other hand also suffered a razor thin split decision loss to Perry and also suffered a hand injury courtesy of a spinning back fist.
UFC 233 was slated to be headlined by a flyweight super fight between flyweight champion Henry Cejudo taking on bantamweight king T.J. Dillashaw. The bout will now take place a week earlier headling the promotion’s inaugural event on ESPN+ on January 19.
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