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 combat within the promotion’s fashionable 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-Cell Area in Las Vegas.
Ige replaces Brian Ortega, who withdrew from the bout on account of 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 combat 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.
The unique matchup between Lopes and Ortega was booked on brief discover and first scheduled for featherweight. It shifted to light-weight forward of Friday’s official weigh-ins on account of Ortega’s lack of ability to make weight.
With the change, the UFC 303 combat card contains:
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Champion Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka
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Dan Ige vs. Diego Lopes
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Anthony Smith vs. Roman Dolidze
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Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Macy Chiasson
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Ian Machado Garry vs. Michael Web page
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Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Joe Pyfer
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Andre Fili vs. Cub Swanson
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Jean Silva def. Charles Jourdain through knockout (punch) – Spherical 2, 1:22
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Payton Talbott def. Yanis Ghemmouri through knockout (punches) – Spherical 1, 0:19
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Gillian Robertson def. Michelle Waterson-Gomez through unanimous choice (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
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Martin Buday def. Andrei Arlovski through cut up choice (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
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Rei Tsuruya def. Carlos Hernandez through unanimous choice (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
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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.
Story initially appeared on MMA Junkie