UFC featherweight Steven Peterson is preparing to take on Chase Hooper at UFC 263 on June 12 in an exciting matchup that will be in front of a full crowd in Glendale, Ariz.

The UFC has already resumed packing arenas for pay-per-view events, with its most recent outing in Houston for UFC 262. Even though Peterson (18-9 MMA, 2-3 UFC) lives in the state and trains out of Fortis MMA in Dallas, don’t expect to see the hard-hitting featherweight compete in the Lone Star State in the future.

During an interview with MMA Island, Peterson explained why he will not be taking a fight in Texas, should the UFC come back before the end of the year.

“I’ll gladly attend and hopefully corner some of our guys, but I will not be fighting in Texas any time soon,” Peterson said. “I am boycotting the Texas commission.”

Putting it bluntly, Peterson stated, “The Texas commission is f*cked, man.”

He continued, “I have nine losses in my career, five of which I would highly contest, sit with you, watch the tape and argue with you how I won the fight. Those decisions were all lost in Texas.”

The most recent example occurred in 2019 when Peterson took on Alex Caceres at UFC on ESPN 4 in San Antonio. Caceres won a unanimous decision that evening, despite some in the media believing the result could have gone the other way. “I thought I won that fight, hands down,” Peterson said.

While Peterson is soured on Texas for the time being, he is happy to compete in other locations until changes are made.

“I’m not going to put myself in the line of fire if I don’t have to, so I’ll be sitting out any Texas shows, and hopefully something changes with the commission and we get things worked out over here,” he said.