The committee explains how Ige/Lopes was framed.pic.twitter.com/N2OiP4iAtu
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman)
June 30, 2024
A lot of preparation went into deciding on this co-main event bout at UFC 303.
UFC 303, taking place on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, was originally scheduled to feature Khalil Rountree vs. Jamahal Hill as a co-main event, but Rountree withdrew after failing a drugs test. Carlos Ulberg filled in for Rountree, but the bout was eventually canceled altogether with both Hill and Ulberg withdrawing. Diego Lopez was ultimately scheduled to face Brian Ortega in the featherweight main event, but Lopez agreed to a lightweight bout with Ortega after learning “T-City” would not be able to make weight.
However, during the UFC 303 broadcast, it was announced that Ortega had withdrawn from the bout due to a fever, and a new co-main event had been scheduled: Dan Ige, who trains at Extreme Couture in Las Vegas, stepped in to replace Ortega at short notice, and Lopez accepted the bout at a catchweight of 165 pounds.
Jeff Mullen, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, explained how the last-minute booking was arranged. Ige had also received medical clearance to fight in Nevada following a first-round knockout win over Andre Fili at the Apex in Las Vegas in February. “50K” was also in fighting gear for his upcoming bout against Jose Mariscal, co-headlining UFC Fight Night scheduled for July 20.
“Brian Ortega couldn’t fight today for health reasons, so I immediately started looking for an opponent and luckily I have the No. 14 contender, Dan Ige, in town,” Mullen told ESPN. “He’s already licensed and he fought here in February and won by a first-round knockout, so he’s done all his medicals and met all the requirements. So he was available and it was a perfect matchup with him ranked No. 14 and Diego ranked No. 15. It’s a matchup I can totally approve.”
“And also, we had everything. We checked with the lawyers and made sure everything was OK. He [Saturday]He’s scheduled to have his pre-fight physical today, and everything is fine. Plus, he was already training for the fight on July 20th, which meant he was primed and ready to go. When they made this proposal, the first thing I did was talk to his trainer, Eric Nicksick, and ask him, “Is he ready?” And he was. [Nicksick] “I said, ‘Yeah, of course, he’s ready to fight tonight.’
Mullen also noted that this isn’t entirely unprecedented in the promotion’s history: Junior Tafa faced Marcos Rogerio de Lima at UFC 298 in Anaheim, California in February of this year, and was replaced by his brother, Justin Tafa, on one day’s notice.
“We had a similar situation in Anaheim, California,” he said. “On game day, there was an injury, so one of the Tafa brothers had to fill in for the other player.”
Lopez withstood a threat from Ige in the third round to win a tough unanimous decision. Despite the loss, Ige is happy that he rose to the occasion and will forever be remembered in history books.
“Eight weeks, six weeks, four weeks, four hours, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter,” Ige said in his post-fight interview. “This is what I live for, this is my dream: getting up in the morning and doing what I love. I was literally getting a massage when Hunter called me. [Campbell]Ant [Abdelaziz] “And a lot of people said to me, ‘Hey, do you want to fight tonight?’ And I said, ‘This is my chance to be legendary. This is a story I want to tell my grandkids.’ Don’t get me wrong, I love fighting at the Apex, but to be in the co-main event of one of the biggest cards of the year, on four hours notice during International Fight Week, I couldn’t be happier with my performance.”
