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BLOCKBUSTER RISE FOR HEAVY! The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, September 10, 2022 with an updated must-see Welterweight thriller that will see perennial fan favorite Nate “The Stockton Badboy’. Diaz now fights former lightweight top contender Tony ‘El Cucuy’ Ferguson, who will return to the 170-pound weight class for this last-minute, upgraded assignment. Meanwhile, in the UFC 279 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event, we now have undefeated No. 3-ranked contender Khamzat Chimaev take on Kevin ‘Trailblazer’ Holland in a five-round catchweight bout . These bouts will be preceded by an additional exciting catchweight contest between “Leech” Li Jingliang and Daniel ‘D-Rod’ Rodriguez in a must-see barnburner. Don’t miss a second of the EPIC-face-punching action! Despite a last-second main event change that now has Diaz fighting Tony Ferguson instead of undefeated welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev, the Stockton, Calif., native will still walk Saturday night in Las Vegas. It’s the last fight on Diaz’s current UFC contract, and many believe it’s the last time we’ll see the veteran fighter step inside the Octagon. Diaz is expected to leave the UFC and test free agency until 2023. There’s no doubt that Diaz will be the main attraction at UFC 279. Even though he has just one win in his last four trips to the cage, Diaz remains one of the most recognizable names on the UFC roster and one of the last remaining OG in the sport. That’s why the MMA world will be watching and enjoying every minute of action as Diaz takes on Ferguson in the main event. McGregor – who shared the Octagon with Diaz on two memorable occasions – paid tribute to his former foe via social media earlier today. It was a nice send-off from “Notorious,” who still believes he’ll one day have his trilogy fight with Diaz. Congratulations to Nate Diaz for fulfilling his contractual obligations with the UFC and being a bona fide superstar player. An incredible feat. Fair play. Our trilogy will be done. — Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) September 10, 2022 “Congratulations to Nate Diaz for fulfilling his contractual obligations with the UFC and as a bona fide superstar player. An incredible feat. Fair play. Our trilogy will happen,” McGregor wrote. McGregor also avoided Chimaev because he lost weight and was smiling about it on the scales. According to “Notorious”, Khamzat should have been removed from the card entirely. My opinion is they should have taken the hamzat off the card completely. Reshaping the periods, and with a more favorable period for the failed cutter, will cause many others in the game to follow suit. The smiles on the scales were enough for me. Draw from the card and starve. McG UFC. — Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) September 10, 2022 “My opinion is they should have taken Hamzat off the card completely. Reshaping the periods, and with a more favorable period for the failed cutter, will cause many others in the game to follow suit. The smiles on the scales were enough for me. Draw from the card and starve. McG UFC,” McGregor wrote. How about you maniacs? How will you remember Nate Diaz’s UFC career? MMAmania.com will provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 279 fight card, beginning with the early UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+ “Prelims” bouts at 6 p.m. ET as well as the rest of the undercard on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET by clicking HERE. Next up is the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV with live scores and play-by-play action HERE. For the latest and greatest UFC 279 news and notes, be sure to check out our complete event archive here. For the full UFC 279 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
