UFC Removes Planned August Event from Schedule, UFC 215 to Be Held September 9

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has scrapped its planned August event from the schedule and will now hold UFC 215 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on September 9.

That same date and venue was set to be host for UFC 216, but the UFC announced via its official website that that is no longer the plan, as the Review Journal's Adam Hill confirmed the switch-up on Monday:

Wilson Reis and Henry Cejudo are confirmed as two of the combatants scheduled to fight in a flyweight bout at UFC 215, while fans can also look forward to a heavyweight duel between Luis Henrique and Arjan Bhullar.

With Cody Garbrandt currently injured, it was suggested TJ Dillashaw could make the cut to flyweight to fight champion Demetrious Johnson, per MMAjunkie, although Mighty Mouse has repeatedly rejected that possibility.

That fixture had been touted as a potential headliner for UFC 215 in Seattle on August 19, although ESPN's Brett Okamoto has said the matchup no longer appears to be on the cards:

By removing a pay-per-view from the August schedule, the UFC will look to strengthen the rest of its summer calendar, with two more major events still to come (UFC 213 on July 8, UFC 214 on July 29) in the next month.

What's more, mixed martial arts writer Luke Thomas has touched upon the notion that a certain superfight may have had a hand in diverting attention elsewhere of late and thus diminishing interest in other bouts:

The UFC now has only one planned even remaining in the month of August, with Sergio Pettis slated to fight Brandon Moreno at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico for UFC Fight Night 114 in Mexico City on August 5.

Whether Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather's scheduled August 26 boxing match did have an impact on the UFC's decision to remove its PPV that month remains to be seen, but it's likely attention would have been limited as a result.