Nate Diaz will fight Tony Ferguson in the main event of UFC 279 after Khamzat Chimaev missed weight for their scheduled bout.
Diaz, 37, was due to meet No.3 welterweight contender Chimaev in the final fight on his UFC contract but officials axed the match-up after Chimaev missed weight by 7.5lb. Diaz had earlier weighed in at 171lb, leaving the UFC without a main event.
Ferguson, 38, was scheduled to fight Li Jingliang in the co-main event, with both fighters stepping on the scale at 171lb. And with Diaz refusing to accept a catchweight fight with Chimaev, the UFC pulled Ferguson from his fight with Jingliang to pit him against Diaz in a five-round main event. Chimaev, meanwhile, will take on Kevin Holland - who himself was due to face Daniel Rodriguez - in a five-round clash.
Holland weighed in for the event at 179.5lb, one pound above Chimaev, as his bout with Rodriguez was contested at a 180lb catchweight. Chimaev sparked a brawl of over 100 people by kicking Holland backstage at Thursday's press conference for the event, which was later cancelled.
It marks the first time Chimaev has missed weight in the UFC and the Chechen did not use the additional hour given to him to cut the excess weight. Chimaev walked to the scale with a smile on his face and flipped off reporters after his official weight was read. 'Borz' then left the scale and said "that's not bad" despite missing the 170lb mark by a considerable amount.
Jingliang and Rodriguez will remain on the card to fight each other despite Rodriguez weighing in almost nine pounds more. Jingliang enters the fight on the back of an impressive knockout win against Muslim Salikhov following his submission loss to Chimaev last October. Rodriguez is on a three-fight winning streak going into his bout against 'The Leech'.
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Diaz is fighting for the first time since being losing a decision to now-champion Leon Edwards last June. The UFC veteran of 15 years is a former welterweight title challenger but has also competed at 155lb in the promotion. The 37-year-old, who has been calling for his UFC exit since the beginning of this year, will be free to leave the promotion after his fight with Ferguson.
There were several other weight misses on the card as a women's bantamweight fight between Irene Aldana and Macy Chiasson was changed to a 140lb catchweight after Chiasson struggled to make the 136lb limit. Featherweight Hakeem Dawodu missed the 145lb mark by 3.5lb whilst heavyweight Chris Barnett also weighed in 1.5lb over the limit.
