Lopes defeats Dan Ige as the late replacement of Brian Ortega at UFC 303

After Brian Ortega withdrawn, Diego Lopes won the fight by unanimous decision.

By Andreas Hale

Jun 30, 2024 01:46 AM

LAS VEGA — Brian Ortega, due to illness, was forced to withdraw his co-main event UFC 303 fight against Diego Lopes and was replaced by Dan Ige, who wasn’t scheduled to compete in the card.

Lopes was the unanimous winner of the fight (29-28-30-28).

This was the first occasion that a fighter was replaced the day before a fight at the T-Mobile Arena without weighing-in on the previous day. Ige weighed 164.5 lbs. hours before the fight began while Lopes weighed 161.5 lbs. The two parties quickly agreed to the fight taking place, and continued a fight card already full of injuries.

Ige said in an Octagon interview after the match on Saturday: “It doesn’t matter.” Eight weeks, four months, six months or four hours. “This is my life. I don’t care what it is. I get to do what i enjoy every day. “

Ige sent an email to UFC Chief Financial Officer Hunter Campbell at 4:18pm, three hours before main event.

The message read: “Hello Hunter. I’ve been at camp for three weeks. “I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been. I am in the best shape of my life and I know I can beat him tonight. Legends are made here. “

Ortega was struggling to lose weight to compete at featherweight (145 lbs) for his scheduled bout. On Friday morning, he negotiated to move the fight up to lightweight (155 pounds).

Ortega looked ill during the official weigh-in on Friday morning. It was reported that Ortega had been ill during UFC 303.

Ige competed for the first time since he knocked out Andre Fili by a knockout in February.