WWE News: Reason why Jinder Mahal was not at UFC 215

What’s the story?

With the show taking place in his home-state of Alberta, Jinder Mahal had been set to appear at UFC 215 this past weekend, where he was scheduled to accompany Arjan Bhullar to the Octagon for the latter’s debut fight.

However, Mahal was ultimately unable to attend, with Bhullar himself later revealing that Hurricane Irma had kept Mahal grounded in his home down in Florida.

In case you didn’t know…

Back in August, Bhullar announced via his Instagram that Mahal would be accompanying him to the Octagon ahead of his UFC debut versus Luis Henrique on the UFC 215 prelims.

The pair have a bit of a history together, having filmed a training video together back in July, plus they're both from Canada—Mahal from Calgary and Bhullar from Richmond, British Columbia—and are of Indian and Sikh descent.

Going in depth

Speaking to MMA Fighting’s YouTube channel, Bhullar’s full quote on the situation was as follows:

“He gave me a call, he's caught in the hurricane. He lives in Tampa, Florida and he's like 'You know what brother, I got four different properties down here, got my dog down here. I just haven't been able to make peace and then leave this.' So, he decided to bunker down there.”

Bhullar’s interviewer, Ariel Helwani, also couldn’t help but light-heartedly note that the hurricane did, in fact, hinder Jinder.

Next steps

This week’s showing of SmackDown will take place at the Thomas & Mack Centre in Las Vegas, with US, Tag Team, and SmackDown Women’s Championship matches already announced for the show, as well as the return of Vince McMahon.

Mahal, meanwhile, is being advertised but with such a stacked lineup already on the cards, it wouldn't be too surprising if he remained in Florida to sit out Hurricane Irma.

Author’s take

As serious as Bhullar’s quote may sound, he appeared to be in fairly good spirits about the situation, so you'd presume that Jinder’s taken all the necessary precautions.