OFFICIAL: Nate Diaz and Tony Ferguson to headline UFC 279 after Khamzat Chimaev’s massive weight miss

OFFICIAL: Nate Diaz and Tony Ferguson to headline UFC 279 after Khamzat Chimaev’s massive weight miss

Tony and Nate are two fan favourites who have never met in the octagon

Nate Diaz and Tony Ferguson are set to main event UFC 279 after a wild day at the weigh -ns. Nate’s scheduled opponent, the undefeated Chechen, Khamzat Chimaev missed the welterweight limit by 8 lbs, making the bout unsanctionable under the NSAC provisions. It is unclear if Chimaev will have a fight booked for UFC 279 as yet.

This has been a crazy week for the Chechen who has fallen from grace very rapidly. The week started with his altercation against Paulo Costa at the UFC PI Costa who was only accompanied by Jake Shields faced off against Chimaev with his entourage of about 8-10 people. Needless to say, Costa walked out of that confrontation with his stock higher.

YouTube video

Yesterday Chimaev and his team were also part of a brawl that took place backstage shortly before the UFC 279 press conference was about to commence. The alleged brawl involved almost 100 people according to fist hand sources including Dana White and Darren Till. This led to the entire event being scrapped.

Related: Breaking: Khamzat Chimaev out from his main event fight against Nate Diaz, misses weight by almost 8 pounds

Nate Diaz and Tony Ferguson to be the main event at 170 lbs

Tony Ferguson x Nate Diaz x Khamzat Chimaev
Dustin Poirier also offered to step in, posting a picture of his current weight

Now Chimaev missed weight by a wide margin and Diaz has revealed he was not willing to fight someone who is unable to make weight. However, a long-standing fantasy fight was right there for the making between Diaz and former interim Lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson. Ferguson was among the many fighters including Dustin Poirier and Vicente Luque who Diaz preferred as an opponent over Chimaev.

Also Read: “Next Question” – Tony Ferguson climbs on the stage to answer questions from media despite the cancellation presser

As soon as it was official that Chimaev certainly could not make weight, fans were buzzing with the idea of matching up the two veterans for the main event. Their calls were certainly heard by the UFC as we will be getting that fight for certain now. Dana White confirmed via an Instagram live with Sportscenter the entire card for 279 had been reshuffled. Both Diaz and Ferguson are known to be fighters who bring the action every time the cage door closes behind them.

YouTube video

Considering they are in the twilight of their UFC careers many preferred Nate to face a fellow veteran on a similar career path as him for his farewell. This will be the first UFC event headlined by two fighters on losing streaks since both Diaz and Ferguson haven’t won a fight since 2019.

What are your thoughts on the new main event? Do you feel the main event is a better match for Nate’s farewell? Let us know!

Also Read: Diaz Week: How 8 Seconds Forever Changed the MMA Landscape for good