MANILA – The Games and Amusement Board (GAB) confirmed on Friday the cancellation of the upcoming UFC event on October 15 at the Mall of Asia Arena due to the injury of BJ Penn.
In a statement released by GAB, Chairman Abraham Mitra expressed his disappointment over the decision of UFC, through David Lewis, to reschedule the upcoming fight match in Manila.
“We respect this decision of the organizers and will only require them to ensure the reimbursement of patrons who may have already purchased their tickets,” Mitra said.
Mitra stressed that the procedure has been a practice in the country for years. “This procedure has been in place through the years for no other purpose than to ensure the safety of unarmed combatants and to preserve the integrity of professional sports in the country,” Mitra said.
Mitra lashed out at insinuations linking the country’s government anti-drugs campaign to the cancellation, calling it unfair, irresponsible and counter-productive. He said third parties should not take advantage of the recent development to attack President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.
“We look forward to our continuing relations with the UFC and the MMA world. We are confident that the organizers will clarify this for the benefit of everyone,” Mitra added.
UFC Fight Night Manila was supposed to highlight the match between Penn and Ricardo Lamas. However, Penn suffered a rib injury during his preparations for the big fight.
"I suffered a rib injury in training and I apologize to the fans in Manila who were expecting to watch me compete," Penn said as stated in an article of UFC website. “I hope to be back in the Octagon soon.”
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