The second edition of Triad Combat will have to wait.
Triller has canceled its Triad Combat 2 event, which was set to go down at Toyota Center in Houston, due to concerns over a high number of COVID-19 cases in the Houston area.
MMA Junkie confirmed the news with the promotion Friday following an initial report from Ariel Helwani.
“We made this hard decision out of an abundance of caution for the Fight Club athletes and fans of Triad and Jason Aldean,” Triller said in a statement provided to MMA Junkie. “We determined that, given the current state of the Omicron virus, it was in our collective interest to postpone this large arena event. All tickets will be refunded and stay tuned for very exciting news for where and who will be fighting and rocking our next event!”
The current number of infections in the Houston area is considered “severe,” though it’s had a significant drop compared to the date from early and mid January, according to City of Houston COVID-19 Data Hub.
The UFC has a major event scheduled for Toyota Center on Feb. 12 – two weeks prior to when Triad Combat 2 was set to take place. As of Friday, UFC 271 still is scheduled for the arena with tickets on sale through Toyota Center’s official site. And ahead of UFC 271, the NBA’s Houston Rockets have two home games scheduled there, as well, with tickets available for purchase. But the Toyota Center’s site shows Triad Combat 2 as a postponed event.
The card was set to be headlined by Triad Combat I winner Kubrat Pulev against former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos.
Triller inaugurated Triad Combat on November 2021. It’s a modified style of fighting that’s designed to “level the playing field” between boxing and MMA. Its creation is aimed to pit MMA fighters and boxers against each other in a new form of striking. Its first event was headlined by a heavyweight bout between former UFC champion Frank Mir and Pulev.
Shortly after the launch of Triad Combat, BYB Extreme Fight Series filed a lawsuit against Triller over the triangular ring design used to launch the new style of fighting.