Yes, the UFC 303 co-main event finally happening after utter chaos! After failing to make weight at the initially planned featherweight division, Brian Ortega pushed his fight against Diego Lopes to the lightweight category at the very last minute. And now, after the fallout of Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler, and then Jamahall Hill vs. Carlos Ulberg, T-City pulled out of his scheduled bout, just a couple of hours before his fight with Lopes. Famed MMA reporter Ariel Helwani first hinted at the development, also revealing that Dan Ige might be in for the bout.

Helwani wrote, “UFC is trying to book Dan Ige x Diego Lopes tonight, I’m told. It’s not 100% yet. Ortega is on the verge of having to withdraw. He is sick, sources say. The plan would be a 165-pound catchweight fight, if it gets over the line. Ige would have to weigh in tonight. I honestly have never heard of anything like this before considering he didn’t weigh in yesterday. Developing.” 

Soon after Helwani’s post, Aaron Bronsteter, an MMA reporter for Sportsnet, confirmed the news. According to his X post, Ortega was suffering from a 103-degree fever. Ige, thankfully, was right around the corner and stepped in to save the fight in the catchweight category. The figth might find its place in the UFC history for being the shortest-notice fight in the promotion’s modern era.

But this must have taken a toll on Lopes. The Brazilian fighter had to cut his weight down to 140 lbs and then go to 155 lbs. Now, he is expected to land against Ige in the catchweight division, weighing about 165 lbs. However, ahead of stepping into the octagon, Lopes sounded otherwise. “No matter who is the opponent, no matter the weightclass, no matter when it would be, I would be ready,” he said. Ige’s response was even more fascinating.

“I was asleep on the couch getting a massage. They call me. Big opportunity. You know this is what legends are made of. You got to stay ready for this type of opportunities,” came Ige’s response. Although not as unprecedented as this one, Ortega himself has been on the receiving end of such pullouts in the past.

In July 2018, Max Holloway had pulled out three days ahead of his scheduled fight against Brian Ortega in the UFC 226 co-main event. According to Ariel Helwani, Holloway pulled out of the fight on that occasion because of concussion-like symptoms, which resulted in a visit to the emergency room.

Meanwhile, for showing up on such short notice, both Ige and Lopes got a shoutout from UFC President Dana White. “There would have been no other options,” than calling off the battle, if Ige were not available, White said. Lopes came with a record of 24-6 against Ige’s 18-7 record. This is the first face-off between the two fighters in their careers. Lopes last fought in April. whereas for Ige it was February. Notably, despite the last-minute hustle, the UFC followed proper procedures to bring in Dan Ige at UFC 303.

Dan Ige takes the loss to his stride

Dan Ige’s inclusion was possible since the Nevada Athletic Commission and the UFC management had all of his medical certificates and other documents in place. The fighter featured at the UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Pyfer, where he defeated Andre Fill via KO/TKO in the first round. It was his 18th victory in the mixed martial arts and eight in the UFC.

Reflecting on the process of getting the Ige vs Lopes fight sanctioned, the executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission Jeff Mullen told ESPN, “Fortunately, Dan Ige, who is the 14th-ranked contender, is right here in town. He was already licensed. He fought here in February and won by first-round knockout. We already had all of his medicals, all of his requirements completed, so he was available.”

Mullen also noted that Ige was ranked 14th and Diego 15th, making it a perfect matchup. To top it off, Ige was already training for a fight on July 20 against Chepe Mariscal at the UFC Fight Night. Therefore, he was battle-ready. Althogh Ige’s fight against Lopes is for the legends, the records books will mark the former as the winner.

Lopes took away the firght with unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). Lopes displayed his powerful strikes in Round 1. Thereafter, he dragged the fight to the canvas with submission attempts. Round 2 was no different as Ige struggled to get over the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.

Round 3 saw Ige bounce back. His cardio went further than Lopes’, who looked exhausted with the pregression of the fight. Just before the concluding bell went off, Ige got on top of Lopes and delivered a few ground-and-pound shots. With that, Lopes extended his winning streak to four. However, this was probably a fight, which did not have any winner or loser. The octagon showed that.

The crowd gave a loud ovation to Ige despite his loss. Even Lopes attested to that. “All respect to Dan Ige. Not many guys take a fight on three hours’ notice,” he said after the win. Despite being an out-of-nowhere fight, it indeed created moments that will swirl around the octagon for quite some time.