Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC through Getty Photos
In a historic second for the UFC, Dan Ige is stepping in to combat Diego Lopes within the UFC 303 co-main occasion after Brian Ortega withdrew simply hours earlier than the combat attributable to sickness.
The promotion introduced the transfer after UFC insider Ariel Helwani reported {that a} combat between Lopes and Ige was within the works reasonably than the scheduled occasion of Lopes vs. Ortega.
“That is the s–t legends are fabricated from,” UFC president Dana White mentioned of the newly-booked combat.
UFC @ufc
🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨
Dan Ige is stepping in on 3 HOURS NOTICE to face Diego Lopes within the #UFC303 co-main occasion.
Brian Ortega has withdrawn attributable to sickness.
[ Watch LIVE on ESPN+ PPV | 10pmET/7pmPT ] pic.twitter.com/Q9FSaULiEL
Helwani additionally famous that Ige didn’t weigh in yesterday, so the last-minute swap was extremely unprecedented.
In line with Helwani, Ige’s crew obtained phrase of the tried swap round 7:30 p.m. ET, about 4 hours forward of when he would want to combat.
Shortly after his authentic report, Helwani mentioned that Ige was within the area and related events mentioned “they really feel assured” the combat would occur.
With the combat being a monumental second in UFC historical past, a number of fighters had been fast to react, together with Sean O’Malley:
michael @bisping
Think about this. You get up and simply go about your day, seize breakfast no matter. Later that day you have signed to combat THAT NIGHT within the co important occasion of ufc 303!!! Insane. Additionally no stress on @Dynamitedan808 unbelievable. Large respect.
The light-weight combat between Lopes and Ortega was a co-main card occasion, making the unprecedented turnaround time much more baffling. As Helwani famous, last-minute replacements have occurred in mid-card bouts, however are uncommon amongst fights of such magnitude.
Ortega got here into the weekend trying to win a second consecutive combat after beating Yair Rodríguez at UFC Combat Night time in February. Lopes has received three consecutive fights, his newest coming in opposition to Sodiq Yusuff at UFC 300 in April.
Ige is coming off a win in opposition to Andre Fili at UFC Combat Night time in February.