After one of the most bizarre days in the sport’s history, UFC 223 (now available on Amazon Prime) finally has a main event.
Following New York State Athletic Commission’s decision to deem Max Holloway medically unfit, the Ultimate Fighting Championship spent the day scrambling for an opponent for Khabib Nurmagomedovand after many other options fell through, Al Iaquinta stepped in to save the day.
The UFC’s initial replacement for Holloway was intended to be Anthony Pettis, but negotiations between “Showtime” and the UFC fell apart. The promotion and the former champ were unable to reach a financial agreement and the UFC turned their eyes towards Paul Felder, who weighed in at a championship weight of 155, but since Felder was outside of the top 15 in the promotion’s rankings, the NYSAC declared him ineligible to fight for the title.
With Felder out of the fray, attention turned to his opponent, Al Iaquinta, who weighed in at 155.2. While Iaquinta would be ineligible to win the lightweight title should he beat Nurmagomedov, he still decided to take the fight. Iaquinta is riding a 5-fight win streak with 4 coming from stoppages. Iaquinta holds wins over solid adversaries such as Jorge Masvidal, Joe Lauzon and Diego Sanchez.
It is all systems go for Nurmagomedov, who will still be declared the UFC lightweight champion with a victory. While there have been numerous fighters scheduled to fight him this week, Khabib has remained in good spirits and will be eager to move to 26-0.
UFC 223 Weigh-ins:
Khabib Nurmagomedov (154.5) vs. Al Iaquinta (155.2)
Rose Namajunas (114.2) vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (114)
Calvin Kattar (145.4) vs. Renato Carneiro (145.6)
Zabit Magomedsharipov (145.8) vs. Kyle Bochniak (145.2)
Felice Herrig (115.4) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (115)
Joe Lauzon (155.4) vs. Chris Gruetzemacher (155)
Ashlee Evans-Smith (125.8) vs. Bec Rawlings (125.8)
Olivier Aubin-Mercier (155) vs. Evan Dunham (155.8)
Devin Clark (205.2) vs. Mike Rodriguez (203)
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