UFC 303 saw one last withdrawal Saturday, with professional featherweight Brian Ortega quiting in the nick of time and leaving the occasion to introduce its 4th various co-main battle.
Minutes prior to the begin of the major card in Las Las vega, the UFC’s ESPN program revealed Ortega had actually taken out from his battle as a result of an ailment that created a high temperature of 103 levels. His formerly arranged challenger, Diego Lopes, will certainly rather encounter Dan Ige in the co-main occasion.
DAMAGING INFORMATION
Dan Ige is actioning in on 3 HOURS observe to encounter Diego Lopes in the #UFC303 co-main occasion.
Brian Ortega has actually taken out as a result of disease.
[ Watch LIVE on ESPN+ PPV | 10pmET/7pmPT ] pic.twitter.com/Q9FSaULiEL— UFC (@ufc) June 30, 2024
The co-main will certainly currently be a 165-pound catchweight spell for Lopes and Ige, that appeared to the field and considered in throughout the initial card. Nevada State Athletic Payment exec supervisor Jeff Mullen informed ESPN that Ige was permitted to action in due to the fact that he was arranged to combat at UFC Pinnacle in 3 weeks, so his medicals were currently as much as day.
Ortega had actually currently created the UFC to transform the battle from featherweight to light-weight as a result of weight-cutting problems.
UFC 303 has actually seen Conor McGregor, Jamahal Hillside and extra take out
Withdrawals have actually been a reoccuring motif for UFC 303. The occasion was at first revealed with a centerpiece including Conor McGregor’s go back to the Octagon versus Michael Chandler, with a co-main occasion in between previous light heavyweight champ Jamahal Hillside and Khalil Rountree Jr.
An impure supplement created Rountree to take out from the co-main, with Carlos Ulberg actioning in as a substitute. After That McGregor and Hillside both needed to take out with injuries, leaving the UFC to clamber. Completion outcome was a brand-new centerpiece in between light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira and previous champ Jiří Procházka and the co-main in between Lopes and Ortega.
Ulberg was delegated encounter Anthony Smith, till Ulberg also took out and was changed by Roman Dolidze. So the leading 3 battles on the card have actually currently seen an overall of 6 withdrawals.
Which’s not also completion of it, as battles in between Gillian Robertson and Michelle Waterson-Gomez, Cody Durden and Carlos Hernandez, and Andrei Arlovski and Martin Buday were all arranged and consequently delayed or changed.
Lengthy tale short, it’s been a hectic couple of weeks for Dana White, that likewise needed to handle Khamzat Chimaev taking out from his spell versus Robert Whittaker recently. Whittaker finished substitute Ikram Aliskerov.