Dan Ige gave Diego Lopes an intense fright in the most hatily-arranged fight in UFC history on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena.
The pair were forced to weigh in today at a catchweight of 165lb, or 20lb more than the featherweight limit Lopes was planning to weigh as recently as yesterday morning. Ige took the fight in tremendous circumstances, forcing through a bout after the undercard had already begun at UFC 303.
That Ige and Lopes fought at all was the result of a seeming curse on the event’s top two fights. Both the main and co-main event for the original show were canceled when Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler and a number of iterations of a Jamahal Hill vs Khalil Rountree Jr fight were pulled earlier this month.
Dan Ige loses decision to Diego Lopes in last-second UFC 303 co-main event
With former middleweight champion Sean Strickland joining head coach Eric Nicksick in the corner of Dan Ige, there was a palpable excitement for the short-notice catchweight bout. Diego Lopes’ match fitness was clear as day early, but the game Hawaiian didn’t let it stop him from making a push early.
With seconds left in the first round, Lopes almost had the fight finished but his rival managed to stay out a guillotine choke and make it to the second. His corner joked with him between rounds that he had been getting a massage during the day, and later claimed he was “playing with house money”.
Unfortunately, the fairytale story wasn’t to be for ‘BMF’ Ige, who was unable to capitalise on Lopes’ tiredness towards the end of the fight. The Brazilian appeared to be wilting with just over two minutes to go, but somehow managed to find the back of Ige and protect himself.
But the fight did end in excitement as Ige ended up atop Lopes, landing some big shots to land something of a moral victory as the crowd cheered him on. It remains to be seen if he will go ahead with his scheduled July 20 bout.
Dan Ige stepped in on hours’ notice for UFC 303 co-main event despite having another fight booked
Lopes had been due to face Brian Ortega in the show’s co-headliner, but the former title contender was forced out with illness on fight day. He had already been deemed unable to make the featherweight limit overnight before Friday’s weigh-ins after his rival had already all but reached the 146lb required.
After accepting a new lightweight limit, Lopes was then forced to take on a whole new opponent, and weigh in a third time at a fight day weight of 161lb. Ige, while a considerably lower-ranked prospect than Ortega, is a completely different kind of challenge to the initial opponent and was also bigger at 164lb.
When he learned that the Ortega fight was off, Ige had taken to his phone to message UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell. The conversation was then shared on the broadcast. “Hey Hunter,” the message read. “I’ve been in camp for three months. I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been.
“I can fight this guy tonight and beat him, this is what legends are made of. I’m in, I’m ready. I’m in great shape. Please don’t take this opportunity away from me.”
Ige had been due to face Chepe Mariscal on July 20 and was already in camp, which factored into the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s decision to sanction him on such short notice. He had also fought in the state in February, winning by KO inside a round, and holds the number 13 featherweight ranking.
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