Editor’s note: The article has been updated at 7:30 p.m. ET on
Friday to add additional information.
Khamzat
Chimaev has fumbled the biggest opportunity of his career.
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The
Ultimate Fighting Championship was slated to return to the
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a highly anticipated welterweight
clash between Chimaev and Nate Diaz, but
that has now changed. Weight concerns plagued many competitors
ahead of UFC
279, and even though only three officially missed weight, one
of the most important players tipped the scales way over the limit.
As a result, the final three bouts of the evening have changed,
with new matchups in each. Now, Diaz will fight in the five-round
main event against Tony
Ferguson.
Despite losing his last two fights, and with his last win coming in
2019, Diaz (20-13) finds himself in another pay-per-view main
event. The fan-favorite fighter from Stockton, Calif., is on the
last fight of his UFC contract and will look to ride into free
agency against a new opponent that appears to be a significantly
more favorable matchup. The 37-year-old veteran weighed 171 pounds
for potentially his final fight inside the Octagon, fist-bumping a
commission member as he stepped to the scale.
Ferguson finds himself elevated to the main event slot on extremely
short notice, stepping into this five-round affair with a new
opponent in Diaz on Friday. Like Diaz, Ferguson has struggled as of
late, with four straight losses row dating back to 2020. His
previous 12-fight win streak came crashing to a halt in UFC 249,
when Justin
Gaethje knocked him out to claim the interim strap. Before that
loss, his winning stretch included a victory to briefly claim
interim 155-pound belt. Ferguson, who was initially booked against
Jingliang
Li, weighed 171 pounds for the unexpected headlining
opportunity.
On Friday morning, the promotion elected to shift the bantamweight
match between Irene
Aldana (137.5) and Macy
Chiasson (139.5) into a 140-pound catchweight due to the weight
issues for both women. This adds to the other catchweight contests
at the event, with Kevin
Holland (179.5) vs. Chimaev (178.5) coming together at 180
pounds, and the new tilt between Jingliang
Li and Daniel
Rodriguez (179) also at the 180-pound limit. Finally, the
Jailton
Almeida (216.5) scrap with Anton
Turkalj (214) is booked at 220 pounds.
Two additional fighters missed weight: Hakeem
Dawodu (149.5) clocked in 3.5 pounds above the featherweight
cap ahead of his preliminary collision with Julian
Erosa (146). Also of note, Chris
Barnett (267.5) is the second heavyweight in UFC history to
miss weight, coming in 1.5 pounds over the heavyweight limit.
Dawodu has been fined 30% of his purse, while Barnett’s fine has
been assessed at 20% of his purse.
The UFC 279 main card will stream on ESPN+ pay-per-view at 10 p.m.
ET/7 p.m. PT on Saturday. The early prelims begin on UFC Fight Pass
and ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT, before moving to ESPN+ and
ESPNews at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
UFC 279 Weigh-in Results:
Nate
Diaz (171) vs. Tony
Ferguson (171)
Khamzat
Chimaev (178.5)* vs. Kevin
Holland (179.5)**
Jingliang
Li (170.5) vs. Daniel
Rodriguez (179)**
Irene
Aldana (137.5) vs. Macy
Chiasson (139.5)***
Ion
Cutelaba (205.5) vs. Johnny
Walker (205)
Hakeem
Dawodu (149.5)^ vs. Julian
Erosa (146)
Jailton
Almeida (216.5) vs. Anton
Turkalj (214)^^
Jamie
Pickett (185.5) vs. Denis
Tiuliulin (186)
Chris
Barnett (267.5)# vs. Jake
Collier (265)
Norma
Dumont (146) vs. Danyelle
Wolf (146)
Heili
Alateng (135) vs. Chad
Anheliger (135.5)
Melissa
Martinez (113.5) vs. Elise Reed
(115.5)
Yohan
Lainesse (171) vs. Darian
Weeks (170.5)
* Chimaev missed the welterweight limit by 7.5 pounds to force
an opponent change.
** Scheduled as a 180-pound catchweight.
*** Scheduled as a 140-pound catchweight.
^ Dawodu missed weight by 3.5 pounds and has been fined 30% of his
purse.
^ Scheduled as a 220-pound catchweight.
# Barnett missed weight by 1.5 pounds and has been fined 20% of his
purse.