Former lightweight champion Diaz and Chimaev had agreed to fight each other at welterweight. This means that both fighters may not weigh more than 77.1 kilograms. The American (77.5 kg) was half a kilo above that, but the Russian-born Swede (81 kg) no less than about four kilos. According to leading martial arts journalist Ariel Helwani “medical problems” are at the root of this. It is not yet clear which problems exactly, but it is clear that the program is being moved.
Nate Diaz is now fighting Tony Ferguson at welterweight. That match will be scheduled for five rounds. Khamzat Chimaev now fights the co-main event against Kevin Holland and is also scheduled for five rounds. Finally, Li Jingliang also fights Daniel Rodriguez at 180lbs.
Third-ranked Chimaev was already in the news in the run-up to the martial arts event, which takes place tomorrow night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The day before, the last press conference was canceled because he had had a fight behind the scenes with Kevin Holland, another fighter who makes his appearance at UFC 279. Backstage, it would have come to a verbal and physical confrontation between the two, after which UFC President Dana White decided at the last minute to cancel the press conference.
“Yeah…this isn’t going to happen,” White told the newscast and the fans gathered. “I’m sorry, this has never happened in the history of this organization. Believe me when I say it’s at the moment it is best not to let the press conference go ahead.”
On Instagram Live, Dana White first said it had been “one hell of a night”, but in the end it was decided to pit Chimaev and Holland against each other. With that, the UFC fans still get the spectacle they can get excited about after what has happened in recent days. “It literally couldn’t have turned out better,” White admitted.
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