Brian Ortega withdrew from his co-main event fight with Diego Lopes at UFC 303 on Saturday due to sickness, and Dan Ige was brought in as a replacement and lost by decision.
All three judges scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Lopes (25-6).
“I’ve said before that whoever, wherever, I’ll fight anybody,” said Lopes, a Brazilian, via an interpreter.
Ige (18–8) earned a standing ovation from the audience following his defeat for his courage to come in on short notice.
“I was like, ‘Man, this is an opportunity to become a legend,'” Ige remembers saying. “This is the story I’ll tell my grandchildren. I’d like to have won, but I couldn’t be happier.”
UFC President Dana White stated before the fight that it would most likely have been called off if Ige had not been available.
“There would have been no other options,” White explained.
The contest serves as a warm-up for the main event, which features light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and top-ranked challenger Jiri Prochazka.
Ortega was feverish and unable to perform, according to White. Ige, who is from Honolulu but trains in Las Vegas, was already in town getting ready for another fight.
“It’s all about opportunity,” White explained. “He jumped for it. “Who is hotter than Lopes right now?”
White quipped that Ige was probably sitting on his couch, prepared to order the pay-per-view, when he received the call.
Jeff Mullen, executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, told ESPN that Ige’s fight on February 10 in Las Vegas made the approval process go more smoothly.
“We already had his medicals and all his requirements completed,” Mullen informed me. “It was a wonderful matchup. I consulted with the attorneys to ensure that everything was in order.”
The Ortega-Lopes fight was a substitute for a previously scheduled contest. Jamahal Hill had to withdraw from his match against Carlos Ulberg due to a knee injury sustained during training.
