UFC 279: Nate Diaz to cross swords with Tony Ferguson after Khamzat Chimaev misses weight

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

MMA fans react to the UFC 279 main card reshuffle