MMA

Nate Diaz will now face off against Tony Ferguson in the UFC 279 main event after his previously scheduled opponent, Khamzat Chimaev, missed weight by seven-and-a-half pounds Friday morning.

That has led to a full shakeup of the UFC 279 main card. Ferguson was scheduled to fight on the main card against Li Jingliang, but the latter fighter will now face off against Daniel Rodriguez. Kevin Holland was originally scheduled to face Daniel Rodriguez

Dana White made the announcement on SportsCenter's Instagram page, per ESPN's Marc Raimondi.

Diaz and Chimaev were supposed to headline UFC 279 at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena with a welterweight bout Saturday. Diaz weighed in at 171 pounds, but Chimaev dropped in at 178.5 pounds.

The rest of the main card includes bouts featuring Irene Aldana and Macy Chiasson and Johnny Walker and Ion Cuțelaba.

Diaz has just one fight left on his UFC contract before he breaks free from the promotion. The 37-year-old sports a lifetime professional record of 20-13. His career includes wins over Conor McGregor, Anthony Pettis, Jim Miller and Donald Cerrone.

The eight-time Fight of the Night winner's last match occurred in June 2021, when he lost via unanimous decision to the current UFC welterweight champion, Leon Edwards.

Ferguson, 38, is the former UFC interim lightweight champion. He's gone 25-7 in his career, including a stretch where he won 18 of 19 matches and 12 in a row.

Ferguson has lost his last four matches, with his most recent fight ending in a second-round knockout against Michael Chandler at UFC 274 in May.

Khamzat Chimaev's coach explained what led to a backstage brawl prior to the scheduled UFC 279 press conference on Thursday:

Andreas Michael said Chimaev was alone with Kevin Holland and his group backstage before Chimaev hit Holland with a "boot in the chest," and then Nate Diaz and his team got involved:

The melee caused the cancellation of the press conference, and UFC president Dana White later called the situation a "complete s--tshow," per ESPN's Marc Raimondi.

Saturday's UFC 279 card had been scheduled to be headlined by a fight between Chimaev and Diaz, with Holland on the undercard against Daniel Rodriguez.

As reported by Raimondi, however, Chimaev weighed in 7.5 pounds over the 171-pound limit on Friday, putting his clash with Diaz in jeopardy.

Ariel Helwani of BT Sport followed up by reporting that Chimaev missing weight was due to a "medical issue," although further specifics were not available.

Holland, who made weight for his bout, trolled Chimaev on Twitter after the undefeated Russian star weighed in well over the welterweight limit:

Michael suggested that Holland was attempting to goad Chimaev into an eventual fight on Thursday, but insisted that Chimaev would not take a fight with him since he wants to fight champions and not fighters he feels are below him.

Ironically, Helwani reported that because of the weight issue, UFC's preference is to pivot and have Diaz face Tony Ferguson in the main event with Chimaev dropping down to fight Holland.

While there would undoubtedly be interest in Chimaev vs. Holland following their tussle, Helwani noted that "some are in" and "some aren't" when it comes to the potential adjustments.

UFC President Dana White said Friday he has no interest in discussing Jake Paul or the YouTube star's upcoming boxing match against UFC legend Anderson Silva.

"I don't care about that," White told TMZ Sports. "I literally was saying the other day, everybody keeps asking me about Jake. This guy's not even in my sport. I don't care."

White and Paul have engaged in a long-running war of words, which started with the YouTuber suggesting UFC fighters should receive better pay and benefits.

The UFC president took part in the verbal exchanges for a while, saying Paul should start his own MMA promotion if he has all the answers, but he's maintained a stance lately that he's ready to move on from the conversation for good.

"Stop asking me about Jake Paul, you guys. I don't give a s--t what Jake Paul does," White said in August.

Paul hasn't been so quick to let the rivalry fade, recently using previous footage of White discussing the potential of a Paul vs. Silva showdown to help promote the Oct. 29 fight.

While it doesn't seem like White will be interested in the bout, it does carry a fair bit of intrigue as the YouTuber continues to climb the boxing ranks.

Paul has yet to face a classically trained boxer, but he's steadily built himself in that direction.

First, he knocked out fellow YouTube star Ali "AnEsonGib" Al-Fakhri and former NBA player Nate Robinson. Then he moved on to MMA fighters, beating Ben Askren before back-to-back victories over Tyron Woodley.

Now he'll take on Silva, who's one of the most decorated fighters to step in the Octagon. He's also got some boxing experience, with a 3-1 record in four fights, most recently beating fellow longtime MMA fighter Tito Ortiz last September.

If Paul extends his record to 6-0 with a win over Silva, it'll be time for him to take on at least a semi-accomplished boxer if he truly wants to start making progress within the sport.

Saturday's UFC 279 event between Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz is still scheduled to take place in Las Vegas, but there was no pre-fight press conference on Thursday.

UFC President Dana White canceled the press conference and said it was a "s--t show" backstage, per Damon Martin of MMA Fighting. Martin noted it "sounds like there was some kind of altercation between the fighters that forced the format to change."

White went on to say "for everybody's safety, this is the right decision" and added, "I'm in very weird waters, this has never happened in the history of this company."

MMA reporter Ariel Helwani provided more details about what transpired:

Perhaps it isn't much of a surprise there was an incident.

After all, Chimaev suggested he was willing to fight before Saturday during an interview with ESPN (h/t Jesse Holland of MMA Mania):

"If they wanna fight before (Saturday), f--k the money, brother, I'm gonna fight with them. I love to fight. I've been born for war. I'm inside a warrior, don't care. When the fights come, you don't care about money or what's behind it, just fight. If he wants to fight there with his team, I have like 20 guys with me. We'll fight with all the teams, you know. I hope so. I would love if it happens, something crazy things there. His team is old, brother. My team is fresh. We kill this. His team almost handicapped, brother."

Thursday's canceled press conference is another storyline heading into Saturday's matchup.

Holland noted Chimaev could earn a 170-pound title shot if he defeats Diaz, although he may have to wait until Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman fight for a third time.

While those in attendance Thursday didn't see the press conference they expected, Tony Ferguson provided some entertainment:

Ferguson will face Li Jingliang as part of Saturday's card. Elsewhere, Kevin Holland will go up against Daniel Rodriguez, Irene Aldana will face Macy Chiasson, and Johnny Walker will fight Ion Cutelaba.

Yet the main event at T-Mobile Arena will be between Diaz and Chimaev.

Diaz is 21-13-0 and coming off two straight losses, while Chimaev is 11-0-0.

Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler will fight at UFC 281 on Nov. 12.

UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell confirmed to Brett Okamoto of ESPN that Poirier and Chandler will cross paths inside Madison Square Garden. According to Okamoto, Chandler has also signed a new contract with UFC that locks him in for multiple fights.

UFC 281 will be headlined by Israel Adesanya's middleweight title defense against Alex Pereira.

The stakes won't be as high for Chandler vs. Poirier, but their bout will help to establish the hierarchy near the top of the lightweight division. Poirier and Chandler sit second and fifth, respectively, in UFC's divisional rankings.

Chandler fought Charles Oliveira at UFC 262 in May 2021 to determine a lightweight champion following the retirement of Khabib Nurmagomedov. Oliveira won with a second-round TKO and went on to successfully defend the title against Poirier at UFC 269 in December, winning via a rear-naked choke in the third round.

The lightweight division was subsequently thrown into flux this May when Oliveira failed to make weight ahead of a clash with Justin Gaethje. The Brazilian was stripped of the title but became the No. 1 contender for the vacant belt by submitting Gaethje in the first round.

Poirier hasn't competed in the Octagon since his loss to Oliveira, while Chandler rebounded from his defeat with a vicious second-round knockout of Tony Ferguson at UFC 274 in May.

One of the two can make a major statement in the Big Apple this fall.

UFC champion Francis Ngannou is targeting a 2023 return after undergoing surgery to repair the ACL and MCL in his right knee in March, he told ESPN's Marc Raimondi.

"I'm not very strong on that knee yet," Ngannou said Friday. "See how heavy I am. That's something I really have to consider—my weight and this division and how it is."

Ngannou told Raimondi that he is currently "very out of shape." However, he intends to visit his doctor in Las Vegas next week before going into pre-training camp to get his body back where it needs to be.

The 35-year-old's future with the UFC is up in the air. He has publicly discussed issues surrounding his contract, which is set to end at the end of the year. Ahead of UFC 270, he told reporters he would not fight for UFC again under his current contract.

"I will not fight for $500,000 [or] $600,000 anymore," he said. "It's over. I took this fight for personal reasons, because I want to make sure that regardless of [whether] it's fair, I can make my case that I have completed the fights."

However, UFC president Dana White says he has met with Ngannou multiple times and is confident they will be able to reach an agreement. He told TMZ Sports in January that the promotion would figure things out "one way or another."

It's unclear who Ngannou will fight when he's ready to return. However, Eric Nicksick, his coach, would like to see him fight Jon Jones, he told MMA Fighting:

"The fight that makes the most sense is obviously Jon Jones. That's the fight we all want. The way I look at it is, Jon Jones has been out for two and a half years. If we can’t do it in December, and depending on the way the UFC schedule plays out, maybe [it can happen] in January or February, somewhere in that timeline.

"Jon hasn't fought in so long, Stipe hasn't fought since Francis beat him, so that will be two years for Stipe in March, so might as well wait another month for the super fight and the fight to make.

"Honestly, for me, I'd love the Stipe fight again, or the Jones fight, but if I had my choice between the two, obviously I want to compete against the best to ever do it, in my opinion, and that's Jon Jones."

Ngannou has fought for the UFC since 2015 and has an 11-2 record with the promotion. "The Predator" is 16-3 overall in his MMA career and is known for having the world's hardest punch.