Don’t fear, Dan Ige (and Diego Lopes) saved the day.
On hours’ discover, Ige (18-7 MMA, 10-6 UFC) stepped into the UFC 303 co-main occasion, in what might be the shortest-notice struggle within the promotion’s trendy period.
Not even anticipated to compete on the cardboard, Ige now faces Lopes (24-6 MMA, 3-1 UFC) at Saturday’s occasion at T-Cellular Enviornment in Las Vegas.
Ige replaces Brian Ortega, who withdrew from the bout resulting from sickness. The bout will happen at a catchweight of 165 kilos. Ige weighed in at 164.5 kilos, proven on the ESPN prelim broadcast. Lopes, although he was contracted to struggle at 145 kilos, bought moved to 155 … and now 165.
The change was introduced shortly earlier than the principle card broadcast.
A number of events concerned together with the 2 fighters, Ige’s coach Eric Nicksick, of Xtreme Couture, and Lopes’ supervisor Jason Home, of Iridium Sports activities Company, cryptically alluded to the change forward of time.
Nevada Athlletic Fee government director Jeff Mullen informed ESPN the right channels have been gone by way of earlier than the struggle was sanctioned.
“Luckily, Dan Ige, who’s the 14th-ranked contender, is true right here on the town,” Mullen stated. “He was already licensed. He fought right here in February and gained by first-round knockout. We already had all of his medicals, all of his necessities accomplished, so he was out there. They made the struggle. He’s ranked 14th and Diego’s ranked fifteenth, so it’s an ideal matchup – completely approvable matchup. And once more, we had the whole lot. I checked with our attorneys, made certain the whole lot was so as. … Plus, he was already coaching for a struggle on July 20, so he was ready and able to go.”
The unique matchup between Lopes and Ortega was booked on quick discover and first scheduled for featherweight. It shifted to light-weight forward of Friday’s official weigh-ins resulting from Ortega’s lack of ability to make weight.
So that you wanna be a BMF? #UFC303
— Dan Ige (@Dynamitedan808) June 29, 2024
Bear in mind, we’re the blokes you name if you run out of concepts. #UFC303 #HOTDROP pic.twitter.com/HMM8Y9NBwm
— Eric Nicksick (@Eric_XCMMA) June 30, 2024
With the change, the UFC 303 struggle card contains:
- Champion Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka
- Dan Ige vs. Diego Lopes
- Anthony Smith vs. Roman Dolidze
- Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Macy Chiasson
- Ian Machado Garry vs. Michael Web page
- Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Joe Pyfer
- Andre Fili vs. Cub Swanson
- Jean Silva def. Charles Jourdain through knockout (punch) – Spherical 2, 1:22
- Payton Talbott def. Yanis Ghemmouri through knockout (punches) – Spherical 1, 0:19
- Gillian Robertson def. Michelle Waterson-Gomez through unanimous choice (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Martin Buday def. Andrei Arlovski through cut up choice (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
- Rei Tsuruya def. Carlos Hernandez through unanimous choice (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Vinicius Oliveira def. Ricky Simon through unanimous choice (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC 303.
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