UFC 279: Nate Diaz to cross swords with Tony Ferguson after Khamzat Chimaev misses weight
Know the updated match card for UFC 279, headlined by ‘Nate Diaz vs Tony Ferguson’ in the main event, ‘Khamzat Chimaev vs Kevin Holland’ in the co-main event.
The MMA world has witnessed significant drama in the last two days, in the build-up to the UFC 279 pay-per-view (PPV) event. The PPV was headlined earlier by the Khamzat Chimaev vs Nate Diaz fight, with fans expecting it to be Diaz’s final appearance at the UFC octagon. However, Chimaev missed the weight by nearly eight pounds at the official weigh-ins on Friday, which prompted the promotion to do a significant reshuffle on Saturday’s main card.
UFC 279 Main Event: Nate Diaz vs Tony Ferguson
While Diaz was going to fight Chimaev in the welterweight bout, he will now fight against veteran superstar Tony Ferguson. The match comes as welcome news for fans, as most of them wanted the vintage pairing of Diaz and Ferguson in the main event of UFC 279. At the same time, Chimaev will now lock horns with Kevin Holland in the co-main event, whereas, Ferguson’s previous opponent, Li Jingland will fight against Daniel Rodriguez, who was earlier supposed to fight against Holland.
Khamzat Chimaev vs Kevin Holland in co-main event at UFC 279
Meanwhile, this comes a day after Chimaev, Holland, and Diaz were involved in a heated backstage brawl on Thursday, which also included the teams of these three fighters. The official pre-event press conference for UFC 279 was cancelled after the fighters were involved in a physical altercation. The scuffle was understood to be triggered after Holland made comments about Chimaev’s fighting style.
Dustin Poirier approached for the main event of UFC 279
It is pertinent to mention that, UFC star Dustin Poirier was linked with reports claiming that he was willing to step in for a fight at UFC 279 on short notice. It was reported that UFC contacted Poirier to fight against Diaz in the main event. However, with Diaz accepting to fight Ferguson, Poirier and is understood to be on standby.
Updated match card for UFC 279
Main Card –
Nate Diaz vs. Tony Ferguson (Main event) – Welterweight bout
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Kevin Holland (Co-main event) – Catchweight bout
Daniel Rodriguez vs. Li Jingliang
Irene Aldana vs. Macy Chiasson
Ion Cutelaba vs. Johnny Walker
Prelims –
Hakeem Dawodu vs. Julian Erosa
Jailton Almeida vs. Anton Turkalj
Jamie Pickett vs. Denis Tiuliulin
Chris Barnett vs. Jake Collier
Early Prelims –
Norma Dumont vs. Danyelle Wolf
Heili Alateng vs. Chad Anheliger
Melissa Martinez vs. Elise Reed
Yohan Lainesse vs. Darian Weeks
