No, UFC has not said no to refunds. But they did everything possible to ensure fans don’t cancel their tickets to maintain the $20 million gate Dana White had announced weeks in advance to UFC 303. And if one calls that cheating the fans of what they were initially promised, it won’t be wrong.
UFC’s silence on the matter and ESPN pulling out the McGregor vs Chandler PPV card from their official website only added fuel to the rumors. It was only after the official announcement of a new main event was revealed by the UFC which includes Alex Pereira vs Jiri Prochazka and Brian Ortega vs Diego Lopes, alongside Anthony Smith vs Carlog Ulberg that Conor McGregor issued a public statement about his withdrawl.
To assume that McGregor decided to withdraw from the fight right on the same day when the promotion announced the replacement bouts is obviously foolish. Dana White not only withheld this information from the public but pulled a dirty trick to ensure a certain sense of confusion around UFC 303.
UFC fans are allowed a refund for their UFC 303 tickets
Having said that, it’s really not in UFC’s hands to decide whether or not fans are guaranteed a refund in such circumstances. The rules according to the Nevada Athletic Commission warrants a refund of full amount if there’s any change in the main event.
According to Point No.2 of the NAC statutes chapter 467.255, “If such a change or substitution [Main event] occurs and any patron desires to have the price of the patron’s ticket refunded, the promoter must refund the patron’s money if the patron requests a refund from the promoter within such a period after the promoter publicly announced the change or substitution as the Executive Director deems reasonable.”
However, there’s a catch. This guaranteed refund is only for fans who bought the UFC 303 ticket from the official T-Mobile Arena website. Several fans have also pointed out that other ticketing platforms have refused to issue a refund.
So, safe to say, that fans won’t lose any money should they choose to get a refund for their UFC 303 tickets. But, what about the hotel and flight tickets that may or may not have been affected due to the delay in announcement? UFC had the option to reveal McGregor’s exit, well in advance, making sure fans had the time to deal with other monetary losses they must have incurred.
Be that as it may, neither the prices of the tickets or a notice for refund was announced by the UFC on their social media platforms. In this case, UFC did not act in the best interest of its fans who were left confused about these policies, but in the best interest of their own business, which by the way, is what is expected from a promotion.