Breaking – Nate Diaz x Tony Ferguson headlines UFC 279, Khamzat Chimaev now draws Kevin Holland

In one of the most memorable days and biggest scrambles in recent professional mixed martial arts antiquity – tomorrow’s UFC 279 card from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, has experienced a reshuffle of historic proportions.

Initially, the promotion’s pay-per-view return to ‘Sin City’ was scheduled to feature a welterweight main event was booked to feature undefeated welterweight force, Khamzat Chimaev, and veteran fan-favorite, Nate Diaz.

However, the bout was cast into jeopardy after Chimaev missed the welterweight non-title limit of 171lbs, by a staggering seven and a half pounds at today’s official weigh-ins, forcing the cancellation of his anticipated fight with Diaz – who had successfully made weight.

In the original co-main event, former interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson was slated to make his first welterweight outing since 2011 in a matchup against Li Jingliang. With both fighters successfully making the limit in their respective trips to the scales, that bout became official. 

However, given Chimaev’s weight-cut blunder, the promotion elected to reshuffle three main card bouts – with UFC president Dana White confirming during an interview with ESPN SportsCenter how Diaz would now headline at welterweight against Ferguson, while Chimaev would slot into a catchweight fight against Kevin Holland.

Riverside striker, Holland was himself first matched against fellow-Californian striker, Daniel Rodriguez, however, the latter will now share the Octagon with Jingliang in another massive, significant reshuffle – in what will go down as one of the most hectic and chaotic days in the promotion’s recent history.

Ross Markey

Senior writer for FightBook MMA. An aspiring mixed martial arts reporter based in Ireland. Producer of news articles, interviews, opinion features, and exclusive features such as, ‘The Fallout’, ‘The Breakdown, and, ‘This Week In MMA’.