The fighters that were scheduled to compete on the canceled UFC London card will be reportedly be paid by the UFC.
The promotion was slated to return to the Big Smoke on March 21. Regrettably, the coronavirus pandemic made this card impossible. The UFC briefly attempted to book a short-notice replacement card on US soil, but this plan also fell through.
When the UFC London event was canceled, there was immediate question from fighters, fans and media alike as to whether the athletes scheduled to compete on the card would receive payment. These fighters had already completed expensive fight camps, and through no fault of their own, were suddenly without the paydays they expected. It was a bad situation.
The good news is that several UFC London fighters have now confirmed that they will paid for the canceled event. It’s not clear whether they’re receiving their show and win money, just their show money, or another sum altogether, but it does sound like they’ll be paid.
Marvin Vettori was one such fighter, confirming on Twitter that the UFC is “taking care” of him.
Thank to the @ufc for taking care of me for the London card situation, I’ve been all in from day 1 in this and it’s good to see that even in hard times like these the work im doing is being recognized.
Always ready always working 💯
Thank you @ufc @danawhite @Mickmaynard2— Marvin Vettori (@MarvinVettori) April 1, 2020
Nicolas Dalby, who was scheduled to battle Danny Roberts in the UFC London co-main event, also confirmed that he expects some form of remuneration for the canceled card.
“All I know is that my manager is in dialogue with the UFC,” Dalby told MMA Fighting’s Eurobash podcast. “I think what’s going on is, this is a huge situation and they had to cancel more cards. They’re trying to take a big picture look at how they’re going to do things. I don’t know if there is insurance in place and they have to take account for that. It seems like they’re taking their time and they’re doing that because they want to able to make a proper decision and not a rash, spur-of-the-moment decision.
“It’s taking some time and it’s a bit frustrating. The first of the month is coming up, and I’ve got bills to pay, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be resolved in a nice way, and if it doesn’t, we’ll take it from there.”
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/1/2020.