Nate Diaz vs. Tony Ferguson is now your UFC 279 main event.
Following an egregious weight miss by Khamzat Chimaev that saw the welterweight contender come in 7. 5 pounds heavy on Friday, Chimaev is out of his scheduled headlining bout with Diaz that was to take place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Ferguson will replace Chimaev and the fight will be a five round contest.
The bout was officially announced by UFC President Dana White via Instagram Live, following an initial report by BJPenn.com.
Originally, Ferguson had been scheduled to face Li Jingliang at welterweight in the co-main. The former interim lightweight champion successfully weighed in at 171 pounds for his welterweight return. Diaz hit the mark as well at 171 pounds.
Diaz and Ferguson both seek their first win since 2019. In his most recent outing, Diaz lost a unanimous decision to Leon Edwards at UFC 263, while Ferguson is coming off of a Knockout of the Year loss to Michael Chandler at UFC 274.
Chimaev, who officially weighed in at 178. 5 pounds, now fights Kevin Holland in a 180-pound catchweight bout. Holland weighed in at 179. 5 pounds for a catchweight bout with Daniel Rodriguez. The matchup serves as the new co-main event.
Those shifts leave Rodriguez to fight Li in another 180-pound catchweight bout, a somewhat awkward situation given that Rodriguez weighed in at 179 pounds on Friday while Li came in at 170.5.
The main event has been rescheduled for tomorrow. This is a day following a brawl between Diaz and Chimaev that resulted in the cancellation of the scheduled UFC 279 conference.
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