Tag: UFC

Dan Ige puts up valiant effort with just hours notice at UFC 303

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Dan Ige, left, punches Diego Lopes during a 165-pound catchweight mixed martial arts bout at UFC 303, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. Ige replaced Brian Ortega, who withdrew from the bout due to illness. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

LAS VEGAS — An illness forced Brian Ortega to withdraw Saturday hours before his scheduled fight with Diego Lopes in the co-main event at UFC 303, and Dan Ige was called in as a replacement and narrowly lost by decision.

All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor Lopes (25-6).

“I’ve said before whoever, wherever, I’ll fight anybody,” Lopes, a Brazilian, said through an interpreter.

READ: Alex Pereira keeps title with TKO win over Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303

Ige (18-8) received a loud ovation from the crowd after his loss for his willingness to step in on short notice.

“I was like, ‘Man, this an opportunity to become a legend,’” Ige said. “This is a story I will tell my grandkids. I’d love to (have won), but man I couldn’t be happier.”

UFC President Dana White said before the bout that it likely would have been called off if Ige hadn’t been available.

“There would have been no other options,” White said.

The match is the warm-up bout to the main event between light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and top-ranked challenger Jiri Prochazka.

White said Ortega was running a fever and wasn’t ready to go on. Ige, who is from Honolulu but trains in Las Vegas, already was in town preparing for another fight.

READ: Conor McGregor forced to withdraw from UFC 303 due to broken toe

“It’s all about opportunity,” White said. “He jumped at it. Who’s hotter than Lopes right now?”

White joked that Ige likely was sitting on his couch about to order the pay-per-view when he got the call.

Jeff Mullen, executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, told ESPN that because Ige fought Feb. 10 in Las Vegas, that made the process smoother to get him approved.



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“We already had his medicals and all his requirements completed,” Mullen said. “It was a perfectly approved matchup. I checked with the attorneys to make sure everything was in order.”

The Ortega-Lopes fight itself was a replacement for a previously scheduled bout. Jamahal Hill had to ask out of his match against Carlos Ulberg because a knee injury in training.

Alex Pereira keeps title with TKO of Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303

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Alex Pereira of Brazil stands over Jiri Prochazka of the Czech Republic during a light heavyweight championship bout during UFC 303 at T-Mobile Arena on June 29, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ian Maule/Getty Images/AFP

LAS VEGAS — Alex Pereira delivered a vicious left kick to Jiri Prochazka’s head and then pounded the top-ranked challenger 13 seconds into the second round to retain his light heavyweight championship Saturday night in UFC 303.

Pereira (11-2) now has beaten Prochazka (30-5-1) twice since November to end any doubts about who reigns in that weight class.

Most of the drama at UFC 303 occurred outside the octagon in the weekend and even the hours leading up to the event.

READ: UFC 300: Alex Pereira retains title, knocks out Jamahal Hill

Officials had to act quickly after a late change was needed in the co-main event when an illness forced Brian Ortega to drop out. Dan Ige already was in Las Vegas training for another fight and wound up taking on Diego Lopes in the lightweight fight.

All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor Lopes (25-6) of Brazil. Ige (18-8), who is from Honolulu but lives in Las Vegas, was cheered loudly for showing up with little notice.

The UFC also scrambled to pair Pereira and Prochazka after scheduled headliner Conor McGregor’s broken toe forced him to withdraw. They were given about two weeks to prepare after Pereira had his Australia vacation disrupted and Prochazka was interrupted while at a three-day meditation retreat.

Even without McGregor, this fight could have been the richest in UFC history. A packed crowd of 18,881 that included New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, sitting next to former Green Bay Packers teammate Marcedes Lewis, watched. Lewis now plays tight end for the Chicago Bears.

Pereira and Prochazka engaged in a lengthy stare-down that carried through Bruce Buffer’s fighter introductions and referee Herb Dean’s instructions.

READ: UFC 295: Pereira is light heavyweight champ, Aspinall wins interim heavyweight title

Both fighters spent the opening round feeling each other out, but there was a strong hint of what was to come as it ended. Pereira knocked down Prochazka with a left hand, but it occurred after the bell.

Then Pereira finished the job to open the second round.

The bout was a rematch from Nov. 11 at New York’s Madison Square Garden when Pereira won the championship with a technical knockout at 4:08 of the second round to claim the vacated light heavyweight champion.



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Then Pereira cemented his hold on the belt by beating previous title holder Jamahal Hill with a first-round stoppage in UFC 300 on April 13 in Las Vegas. On the same card, Prochazka recorded a second-round TKO of Aleksandar Rakic to put himself in position for the earlier-than-expected rematch.

Mayra Bueno Silva (10-4-1) suffered a gash so big in her bantamweight fight that the ring doctor called the fight at 1:58 of the second round in favor of Macy Chiasson (11-3). Blood poured down Silva’s face, who asked to continue.

Conor McGregor withdrew from UFC 303 due to broken toe

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Conor McGregor poses for photographers during a photo call for the the film ‘Road House’ in London, Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

LAS VEGAS — Conor McGregor posted on Instagram on Friday that a broken toe was the reason he had to pull out of his headline UFC 303 bout against Michael Chandler after previously not specifying the injury.

“We had a lapse in concentration and engaged in a training session without wearing the full protective gear and I hit the toe off the elbow and broke the toe clean,” McGregor posted.

“It needs a few weeks that’s it. I couldn’t justify to my team, or fans, that I make the walk hindered again. That walk has been seen. This next walk has got to be, and it will be, 100% Conor McGregor. The fans deserve it and we are getting close.”

READ: Conor McGregor says he will return to UFC after injury recovery

Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira will face top-ranked challenger Jiri Prochazka in the June 29 main event in Las Vegas in place of the McGregor-Chandler match.

McGregor said he would return to the octagon “Chandler or not.”

He took the X, formerly known as Twitter, to say that Chandler is getting paid 10 times the amount he would have received if he had fought someone else.

“For those saying he could have fought 2 or 3 times by now etc.,” McGregor posted, “He’d need 10 to break even with this cheque.”



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Conor McGregor says he will return to UFC after injury recovery

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FILE – Conor McGregor prepares to fight Dustin Poirier in a UFC 264 lightweight mixed martial arts bout July 10, 2021, in Las Vegas. McGregor will not compete in UFC 303 on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. He has indicated he is injured. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

LAS VEGAS — In his first public comments since pulling out of UFC 303 on Thursday because of an undisclosed injury, Conor McGregor called it a postponement rather than a cancellation of his fight with Michael Chandler that had been scheduled for later this month.

McGregor said Saturday that he was injured shortly before his scheduled June 3 news conference in Dublin. The news conference was abruptly canceled, creating speculation that McGregor might not fight in the June 29 bout in Las Vegas.

“The decision to postpone the fight was not made lightly, but one made in consultation with my doctors, the UFC, and my team,” McGregor posted on X.

READ: Conor McGregor says he’s returning to UFC octagon vs Michael Chandler

“My fans and opponent deserve me at my best for this fight and we will get there! Thank you for the messages of support, I am in good spirits and confident I’ll be back!”

Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira will face top-ranked challenger Jiri Prochazka in the main event in place of the McGregor-Chandler match.

There also was a change with the co-main event. An injury forced light heavyweight contender Jamahal Hill to drop out, and Carlos Ulberg will face replacement Anthony Smith.



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