Tag: UFC 279

Every UFC event in history with three or more weigh-in misses

Check out which UFC events saw the most issues on the scale before fight night.

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Making weight is part of the job of a mixed martial artist.

Throughout the sport’s history, many fighters have experienced weigh-in day blunders on the scale. Whether they attempted to cut too much, mismanaged their weight loss goal, or experienced a medical issue, there are a number of reasons that may cause fighters to step on the scale above their contracted weights.

Many events see all competitors make weight without issue, but a fighter or two coming in heavy isn’t uncommon. However, there are rare instances that see three or more tip the scale too heavy, causing dramatic moments the day before the fights. Four is the high mark, which has occurred on four occasions.

Scroll below to see which UFC events, in chronological order, saw three or more misses.

MMA Junkie’s 2022 Submission of the Year: Islam Makhachev def. Charles Oliveira

Islam Makhachev finishing the most decorated grappler in UFC history secured him lightweight gold and MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Year for 2022.

With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie takes a look at the best submissions from January to December 2022.

As voted on by our entire staff, here are the top 10 and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Year.

Honorable mentions

MMA Junkie’s 2022 Knockout of the Year: Leon Edwards def. Kamaru Usman

“Pound-for-pound. Headshot. Dead.” Leon Edwards’ stunning finish of Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 is MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Year for 2022.

With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie takes a look at the best knockouts from January to December 2022.

As voted on by our entire staff, here are the top 10 and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Year.

Honorable mentions

UFC in 2022: A ridiculously robust look at the stats, streaks, skids and record-setters

Check out a full recap of 2022’s most significant footnotes and milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances.

Now that the year has come to a close, and with a major assist from UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll, here are some of 2022’s most significant milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances in the octagon.

Dan Hardy: UFC booking Nate Diaz to fight Khamzat Chimaev ‘was an assassination attempt’

Dan Hardy doesn’t hold back in calling out Dana White and the UFC for what felt like “an execution.”

In the build-up to UFC 279, [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] tried selling everyone on the notion that [autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag], who was unranked and hadn’t won in three years, fighting top welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev made complete sense.

Dan Hardy wasn’t buying the UFC president’s words then – and he certainly isn’t buying them now.

“Imagine Nate Diaz (fighting) Khamzat Chimaev. We all know what that was. We all knew what that was,” Hardy said recently on the “Freedom Pact” podcast. “And fortunately it worked out that fight didn’t happen, and then what did we get from Dana the week after? ‘It’s a good thing that fight didn’t happen. That would’ve been really bad.’ Like yeah, man. I don’t have to buy your bullsh*t anymore, because I know it’s bullshit. You know what you’re doing. It was an assassination attempt. They were trying to bury (Diaz) before he left his UFC contract.”

A lot of people viewed the situation Hardy’s way after Diaz spent almost an entire year asking for his release from the UFC while they couldn’t come to an agreement on the final fight of his contract. Eventually the UFC convinced Diaz to accept the Chimaev fight, but Diaz made it clear he had no intention of re-signing. Despite widespread criticism, the UFC pushed forward with Chimaev vs. Diaz as the UFC 279 headliner, which didn’t happen only because Chimaev massively missed the 171-pound limit.

Diaz went on to defeat Tony Ferguson in the makeshift UFC 279 main event, and he’s now a free agent.

All may have ended well for Diaz and the UFC, but Hardy still can’t shake his feeling of what might’ve been.

“That Chimaev against Diaz fight felt more like – it just felt like an execution,” Hardy said. “And that, to me, felt like you’ve got one person or one small group of people that are using one part of the roster to punish the other part of the roster. That’s not sport. That’s dogfighting. It’s just ugly. It’s just an ugly thing, and it make me feel uncomfortable, because I love the sport, and that would damage it.

“Imagine if Nate had gotten really badly hurt. Straight away it would’ve cast a shadow over the UFC, it would’ve been all over the news in a negative way, and it would’ve made us all feel uncomfortable, because we knew it was happening. It was fortunate the MMA gods shined down on us that day. But I also feel like there was some meddling in the background to make sure that didn’t happen. Because I think the closer the fight got, the more the UFC realized how much they were gonna bury themselves if Nate got hurt.”

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Hardy, who was released from his duties as UFC commentator in early 2021 following a reported disagreement with a female employee, expects better from the UFC in how it carries itself as the world’s leading MMA organization.

“For me, the UFC has already established itself as the figurehead of the sport. There’s no doubting that, and I don’t think for a second that any other organization is gonna come close to what the UFC are and what they’re doing,” Hardy said. “They will always be the premiership for mixed martial arts. They just need to act like the premiership. They need to act like the premiere league in the sport. They need to be the custodians of the sport.”

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Brandon Gibson looks ‘forward to taking that next step together’ with Tony Ferguson after UFC 279

Brandon Gibson still plans on being a part of Tony Ferguson’s camps moving forward.

LOS ANGELES – Brandon Gibson still plans on being a part of [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag]’s camps moving forward.

The renowned striking coach, who works with the likes of former UFC light heavyweight king Jon Jones and top prospect Aaron Pico, trained Ferguson in the lead-up to his fight at UFC 279 earlier this month.

Gibson helped Ferguson (25-8 MMA, 15-6 UFC) prepare for a three-round fight against Li Jingliang, but a last-second switch-up resulted in Ferguson facing Nate Diaz in a five-round bout. He was submitted in Round 4.

“We were just speaking today, and I look forward to seeing him out in Albuquerque, (N.M.),” Gibson told MMA Junkie. “If I get a moment to step away from Pico this week (at Bellator 286), I would be totally down to link up with Tony and get some work in. Tony has a great team around him, and that week, I think we developed an even stronger relationship. So I look forward to taking that next step together.”

Although Ferguson didn’t get his hand raised, Gibson liked what he saw out of “El Cucuy,” who wasn’t deterred at all after suffering his fifth straight setback.

“All the respect to Diaz – he’s a game fighter. He was prepared for a five-round fight,” Gibson said. “Tony was scrappy in there. I think he had some really good moments – there was a lot of back and forth. I think Tony was able to show his toughness, his grit that he always has in fights. It was good to see him in there with another veteran, another OG, and obviously I wish that we would have had a different result. But all respect to Diaz.

“I would like to see Tony up against some other vets. I like him fighting some of these more tenured fighters. I’m sure Tony can continue to make 155 no problem, and if he stays at 170, I think there’s some room for growth like in his strength, his size and have a longer camp to really prepare for an opponent than one day.”

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Dana White admits Khamzat Chimaev vs. Nate Diaz ‘wouldn’t have been good’ – for Diaz

“After you watch the fight, you realize Khamzat vs. Diaz would have been f*cking – that wouldn’t have been good.”

Seeing what [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag] did to Kevin Holland at UFC 279, [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] realizes that the [autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag] fight may have only gone worse.

Chimaev (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) was initially scheduled to face Diaz (21-13 MMA, 16-11 UFC) in the main event of Sept. 10 pay-per-view card in Las Vegas, but after coming in 7.5 pounds over the welterweight limit, the card was shuffled and Chimaev drew Holland instead in a 180-pound catchweight bout.

It took Chimaev less than half a round to drag Holland (23-8 MMA, 10-5 UFC) down to the mat and choke him out, which left UFC president White in awe of the undefeated star.

“After you watch the fight, you realize Khamzat vs. Nate Diaz would have been f*cking – that wouldn’t have been good,” White said on “The Action Junkeez Podcast.” “Khamzat, I know the fans got pissed at him for not making weight and everything else, but Jesus f*cking Christ. What he went out and did to Kevin Holland – did you see Kevin Holland post the picture the other day that his eyes were all red from the f*cking choke? I mean, holy sh*t.”

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After the overhaul to the card, Diaz faced off against Tony Ferguson in the night’s headliner at T-Mobile Arena, and tapped out “El Cucuy” in Round 4 in the final fight of his UFC contract.

Although Chimaev was a heavy favorite against Holland, White didn’t expect him to tear through Holland in such quick and dominant fashion – and he won’t believe anyone who says they did.

“I love Kevin Iole,” White said. “Kevin was at the press conference and he was like, ‘Yeah, that’s what I expected,’ No you f*cking didn’t. And if you expected, if you really are honest in saying that you expected Khamzat to f*cking destroy Kevin Holland – you’re lying. There’s just no way. Kevin Holland is a bad motherf*cker.”

After his big weight miss at UFC 279, Chimaev hinted a move to middleweight. White agreed that’s likely the appropriate next step for the undefeated sensation.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 279.

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UFC 279 ‘Thrill and Agony’: Nate Diaz celebrates with Tommy Lee after victorious UFC sendoff

Watch a preview of the latest edition of “The Thrill and the Agony,” which goes behind the scenes in the aftermath of UFC 279.

Watch a preview for the latest edition of “The Thrill and the Agony,” which goes behind the scenes of UFC 279.

[autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag] (21-13 MMA, 16-11 UFC) fought out his UFC contract in the main event of the pay-per-view event by tapping former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson (25-8 MMA, 15-6 UFC) with a guillotine choke in the fourth round.

In the co-feature, [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag] (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) blitzed through Kevin Holland (23-8 MMA, 10-5 UFC), immediately going to his dominant grappling to secure a first-round submission win.

In a preview of “The Thrill and the Agony” special from UFC 279 which is available for UFC Fight Pass subscribers, we get an all-access look at the immediate aftermath of Chimaev and Diaz’s wins.

You can watch the preview in the video above.

Video: Did Irene Aldana upkick her way to a title shot at UFC 279?

Two straight wins doesn’t normally put someone into title contention, but there are exceptions to the rule.

Two straight wins doesn’t normally put someone into title contention, but there are exceptions to the rule.

In the UFC, some divisions are less deep than others, and that might benefit [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag]. Then there’s the memorable way in which she won her second straight fight. Recency bias could play a part, too.

Aldana (14-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC) finished “Ultimate Fighter” winner Macy Chiasson (8-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) with a third-round TKO this past Saturday at UFC 279. Chiasson had Alanda on the canvas, but while she was thinking of her next move, Aldana launched a perfectly placed upkick that hit Chiasson in the liver.

Chiasson quickly buckled, fell to the canvas, and just like that, the fight was over.

But was that enough to warrant a women’s bantamweight title shot for Aldana against champion Amanda Nunes, who recaptured the belt earlier this year from Julianna Peña? Aldana’s win was a big one, for sure, and she’s won four of her past five. But the win over Chiasson was her first bout in more than a year, and in July 2021, she missed weight for her win over Yana Kunitskaya.

Did the Mexican standout do enough to get a shot at Nunes, or did she merely put herself into the conversation? That’s what we asked our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn and Danny Segura, who discussed the topic with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. You can watch their conversation in the video above, or check out this week’s full episode below.

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Video: Nate Diaz releases vlog on chaotic UFC 279 fight week from behind the scenes

Nate Diaz had a camera crew following him all throughout his possible final UFC fight week.

[autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag] had a camera crew with him throughout what was possibly his final UFC fight week.

Diaz (21-13 MMA, 16-11 UFC), who was originally supposed to fight Khamzat Chimaev in the UFC 279 main event this past weekend, finished out his promotional contract with a fourth-round submission of Tony Ferguson after the entire lineup shuffled on one days’ notice due to a Chimaev weight miss.

From the pre-fight press conference cancellation due to backstage altercations to the morning of weigh-ins when Diaz discovered Chimaev would come in heavy and his opponent was switched and beyond, the fan-favorite fighter from Stockton, Calif., had his team film everything that unfolded.

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Diaz released his “Road 2 War” video blog on Tuesday with all the footage, and you can watch it all above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 279.

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