A battle is brewing in Southern California. UFC 233 will take place Jan. 26 in Anaheim, Calif., MMA Fighting confirmed Tuesday with sources after an initial report by the Los Angeles Times. That date and location is significant, because the same night as the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix in Inglewood, Calif. No fights have been announced yet for UFC 233. Bellator’s card will be headlined by the tournament championship fight between Ryan Bader and Fedor Emelianenko. The winner will be crowned the Bellator heavyweight champion. UFC 233 will take place at Honda Center, which is only about 35 miles southeast of The Forum where Bellator’s card will be held. The UFC and Bellator have run head-to-head before, but never major shows that close to one another. The LA Times article cited a source saying that a bantamweight title fight between champion T.J. Dillashaw and flyweight champion Henry Cejudo is in the works for UFC 233, but UFC president Dana White told the paper that the fight is not a done deal. The matchup would make sense geographically — Dillashaw lives and trains close in Orange County near Anaheim and Cejudo has roots in Los Angeles.<doc-sep>With 2018 closing out, news about the first UFC cards of 2019 is starting to leak. For example, we now know when are where the first pay-per-view of the year will occur. On Jan. 26, the UFC will be heading back to the Honda Center in Anaheim, California for UFC 233, according to the Los Angeles Times. The last time the UFC was at the Honda Center was UFC 214 in July of 2017. At the event, Jon Jones made his return to the Octagon where he knocked out Daniel Cormier. However, the fight was overturned to a no-contest when Jones was flagged by USADA. Anaheim proved to be a good setting for UFC fights as the UFC 214 card had an attendance of 16,610 for a total gate of $2,448,870. Given that it is the first pay-per-view card of the New Year, the UFC may try to stack it and start 2019 off right. Although there is no news of any fights that will be on that card, the Los Angeles Times is reporting it very well could be headlined by a T.J. Dillashaw vs Henry Cejudo super fight. Cejudo would most likely move up to bantamweight to take on Dillashaw for his belt. The fight could also signal the end of the men’s flyweight division in the UFC. Dillashaw last entered the Octagon at UFC 227 in August, where he defeated Cody Garbrandt by knockout to defend his bantamweight title. It was a dominating performance. Just before Dillashaw defeated Garbrandt, Cejudo stunned the MMA world by defeating the longtime champion, Demetrious Johnson by split decision. Since then, the two fighters have exchanged plenty of trash talk, and it seems as though the Anaheim crowd could well see them settle their score live. Another wrinkle in this story is that on the same night as UFC 233, Bellator is putting on a massive show of their own. Bellator’s event is at The Forum in Los Angeles, which is about 35 miles away from the Honda Center. That card will be headlined by a heavyweight title showdown between Ryan Bader and Fedor Emelianenko, the two finalists in Bellator’s epic heavyweight Grand Prix. It will be interesting to see how much the two cards occurring on the same night impacts the viewership for both events. The UFC and Bellator haven’t gone head-to-head with big cards in a while, but in January, they’re set to do so. Which fights would you like to see added to the UFC 233 bill? This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/31/2018. This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM<doc-sep>Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is closing out 2018 with three massive pay-per-view (PPV) events, culminating with UFC 232, which is set to go down on Dec. 29, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring a Light Heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson. But, the world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion is already locking down venues and dates to kick of the new year, as UFC 233 has been booked to go down on Jan. 26, 2019, inside Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., according to LA Times. That means for the first time in a long time, UFC will go head-to-head with Bellator, as the Viacom-owned promotion is set to stage the finals of its World Heavyweight Grand Prix the same date just up the road in Inglewood. While there are no fights currently booked for UFC 233, former PRDIE FC Heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko will face off against Ryan Bader in the main event of Bellator’s tournament finale. That said, you can expect the promotion to try and stack UFC 233 to get a leg up on the competition. And if Daniel Cormier gets through Derrick Lewis this Saturday night (Nov. 3, 2018) at UFC 230, don’t be surprised if the promotion tries to book “DC” vs. Brock Lesnar to spearhead the show. If not, there is always this. Let's just hope history doesn't repeat itself.<doc-sep>
Southern California’s ability to pack arenas for combat sports has led the UFC to schedule another card here for Jan. 26, when UFC 233 at Honda Center in Anaheim will go head to head against a Bellator MMA card at the Forum that night. UFC President Dana White told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that UFC 233 is coming to the home of the Ducks after a UFC 227 live gate of $2.9 million was generated by a crowd of 17,794 at Staples Center in August. White said he was in the process of arranging bouts — “We have no fights yet, the card’s not ready” — while attending a Tuesday matchmaker meeting. An obvious match to designate as the main event is a super-fight between new flyweight champion Henry Cejudo, who was born and briefly lived in Los Angeles, and bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw of Yorba Linda in a meeting for Dillashaw’s belt. One official who’s been in talks with those working on UFC 233 said it was their assumption that Dillashaw-Cejudo is being pegged for Anaheim, but White, involved in the direct talks, said calling that bout a done deal is “not true.” Cejudo pulled off a stirring upset of long-reigning flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson at Staples Center, and Dillashaw (17-3) followed with a first-round knockout of former stablemate Cody Garbrandt in the main event. Johnson last week was traded to Asia’s One Championship in an unprecedented deal for One’s welterweight champion Ben Askren, whom White has said will fight a top-five contender in his UFC debut. The UFC has placed significant cards at Honda Center in the past, including heavyweight Cain Velasquez’s knockout of Brock Lesnar in 2010, Ronda Rousey’s UFC debut in 2013, and a three-title-fight card headlined by the Jon Jones-Daniel Cormier rematch last year. By positioning itself against the Bellator card at the Forum, the pay-per-view UFC show will vie for attention with the heavyweight grand prix final between MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko and Ryan Bader. lance.pugmire@latimes.com Twitter: @latimespugmire