In a historic moment for the UFC, Dan Ige is stepping in to fight Diego Lopes in the UFC 303 co-main event after Brian Ortega withdrew. Diego Lopes vs Brian ortega UFC 303: Fight Cancelled,Wikipedia.
Diego Lopes vs Brian ortega UFC 303: Fight Cancelled,Wikipedia
Don’t worry, Dan Ige (and Diego Lopes) saved the day.
On hours’ notice, Ige (18-7 MMA, 10-6 UFC) stepped into the UFC 303 co-main event in what may be the shortest-notice fight in the promotion’s modern era.
Not even expected to compete on the card, Ige will now face Lopes (24-6 MMA, 3-1 UFC) at Saturday’s event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Ige replaced Brian Ortega, who withdrew from the bout due to illness. The fight will be held at a catchweight of 165 pounds. ESPN’s initial broadcast showed Ige weighing 164.5 pounds. Lopez, although he was contracted to fight at 145 pounds, was moved down to 155… and now to 165.
The change was announced shortly before the main card broadcast.
Several parties, including the two fighters, Ige’s coach Eric Niksic of Extreme Couture and Lopes’ manager Jason House of Iridium Sports Agency, secretly signaled the change ahead of time.
Nevada Athletic Commission executive director Jeff Mullen told ESPN that the proper channels were worked through before the fight was sanctioned.
“Fortunately, Dan Ige, who is the 14th-ranked contender, is right here in town,” Mullen said. “He already had the license. He fought here in February and won by knockout in the first round. We already had all his medicals, all his requirements covered, so he was available. They beat up. He’s ranked 14th and Diego is ranked 15th, so it’s a perfect matchup – a perfectly acceptable matchup. And then, we had everything. I checked with my lawyers, made sure everything was in order. …Plus, he was already training for the fight on July 20, so he was prepared and ready to go.
The original matchup between Lopez and Ortega was booked on short notice and was previously scheduled for featherweight. Ortega’s inability to make weight led to him being moved down to lightweight prior to Friday’s official weigh-ins.
Fight Cancelled
There has been a late change to the UFC 303 co-main event.
Brian Ortega was declared medically unable to compete on Saturday night after struggling due to a weight cut, causing his fight against Diego Lopes to be moved from featherweight to lightweight. According to the broadcast, Ortega had a 103-degree fever and was removed from the card.
Ortega has now been ruled out and will be replaced by Dan Ige against Lopez in a new fight announced ahead of the start of the UFC 303 pay-per-view main card. The fight takes place at a catchweight of 165 pounds.
It’s a strange turn of events, with Ige accepting the opportunity to fight Lopez on the shortest notice in UFC history because he wasn’t even scheduled to compete at UFC 303. Ige released a teaser on Twitter that clearly hinted at the fight he had conceded against. Lopez.
“So you want to be a BMF?” Ige wrote.
With a 3-1 record in his last four fights, Ige is a threat, even if he went without any training camp or fight preparation to be ready to face one of the fastest rising stars on the entire UFC roster. Are fighting. Most recently, Ige defeated Andre Fili in the first round in February. He recently booked a fight against Chepe Mariscal in July.
Now Ige faces Lopez, who comes into the fight with three consecutive wins – all by finish – including a stunning knockout over Sodik Youssef at UFC 300 in April.
Lopez vs. Ige has been added to the UFC 303 lineup, with the main event still to be determined as Alex Pereira defends his light heavyweight title against Jiri Prochazka.
Wikipedia
UFC 303 will be remembered as one of the most logistically chaotic cards in the history of the promotion, with no disorder more evident than Diego Lopes beating a guy who was fighting on almost four hours’ notice.
The rising featherweight star defeated last-minute opponent Dan Ige by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) on Saturday, the culmination of a co-main event that had to be redone four separate times.
Lopez took a dominant lead in the first and second rounds, but Ige produced a spectacular effort in the third round, catching the Brazilian with several powerful strikes and winning the round.
The fight was only made possible when Ige stepped in at short notice to replace Brian Ortega in the co-main. Ortega, who himself was not a part of the card until June 13, was officially announced as having withdrawn during the preliminary card due to an illness that left him with a fever of 103 degrees, prompting the UFC to face Lopez. And had to turn to Ige for rescue. Sheet.
The fight, which was held as a 165-pound catchweight, was only possible because Ige was already scheduled to fight in Las Vegas in three weeks. Jeff Mullen, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, told ESPN that having Ige’s medical update in the system allowed the body to legally sanction the fight.
It’s hard to think of a better fight happening at a later time in UFC history. Ige told ESPN that he was getting a massage when he started receiving calls from UFC executive Hunter Campbell, manager Ali Abdelaziz and others.
The loss can hardly be overstated against Ige, who has probably scored as many points with UFC president Dana White as you possibly can just by getting into the arena. The gate for the event was $15.9 million, the fourth largest in UFC history.
