Coming into this week initially, UFC 279 was a much different looking card, but after a crazy series of events unfolded on the day of the weigh ins, the top three fights on the card have been shuffled around and now Nate Diaz will take on Tony Ferguson in the main event while MMASucka provides UFC 279 results.
UFC 279 Results – Main Event
Going into fight week, Nate Diaz had originally been scheduled to take on the #3-ranked welterweight contender, Khamzat Chimaev. However, when Chimaev weighed in, he came in 7.5 pounds over the welterweight limit. This prompted Diaz to no longer want the fight against Chimaev. After a long afternoon of figuring things out, the UFC made a new main event for Diaz, taking Tony Ferguson out of his fight on Saturday with Li Jingliang to take on Diaz.
Coming into the last fight remaining on his contract, Nate Diaz holds a record of 1-2 since 2019. After his series of fights with Conor McGregor in 2016, he did not return to the octagon until UFC 241 in August 2019 when he defeated Anthony Pettis by unanimous decision. He returned just a few months later in November of that year when he faced Jorge Masvidal for the ‘BMF Belt’ at UFC 244. Diaz went on to lose that fight as the ringside physician determined a cut of his was too bad for Diaz to continue, awarding Masvidal the TKO win at the end of round three.
Diaz took a little more than a year off again after those fights and when he returned, he was matched up with Leon Edwards in a five round co-main event at UFC 263. It was a pretty one sided fight for Edwards as he dominated most of the fight. There was a moment in the final round that Diaz had Edwards hurt, but he could not capitalize on it and Edwards went on to win by unanimous decision. Now in the last fight of his UFC contract, Diaz takes on a fan favorite in what promises to be an exciting main event.
Moving up in weight and making his welterweight debut is former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson. After winning twelve straight fights from 2013-2019, Ferguson never got a chance at the UFC championship. The closest he came to that was when he defeated Kevin Lee by submission at UFC 216 for the interim title. Unfortunately, a fight with Ferguson and then champion Khabib Nurmagomedov had been cursed as they had been matched up multiple times but the fight would end up never happening. The two were matched up for the title unification bout at UFC 223, but once again, the fight did not happen after Ferguson was forced out of the fight with a knee injury.
Ferguson never got his shot at the unified title, and as a result, he hit a point where his career started to decline. His twelve fight win streak was ended in 2020 when he lost by TKO to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249. He has since lost three more in a row. After the Gaethje fight, Ferguson went on to drop back-to-back unanimous decision losses to Charles Oliveira at UFC 256 followed by Beneil Dariush at UFC 262. In his most recent outing, Ferguson was knocked out by former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler with a front kick in their fight at UFC 274. Now, in a new weight class, Ferguson looks to snap his losing streak and get a win in his matchup with Diaz.
UFC 279 Results – C0-Main Event
Coming into fight week, the co-main event was scheduled to be a three round welterweight fight between Tony Ferguson and Li Jingliang. Now, both of those guys have new opponents, and now the co-main event will be a five round middleweight catchweight fight at 180 pounds between Khamzat Chimaev and Kevin Holland. According to UFC president Dana White, UFC 279’s press conference was cancelled due to altercations going on backstage which started with Chimaev and Holland getting into it. Now, the two will meet in the octagon on 24 hour’s notice.
Chimaev has been surging as he comes into this fight, holding a career record of 11-0 with ten of those eleven wins being finishes. He entered the UFC in 2020, winning his debut fight with a second round submission win over John Phillips at UFC on ESPN 13. Ten days later, he picked up his second win in the UFC with a first round TKO against Rhys McKee. Two months after that fight, he defeated his biggest name so far with a seventeen second knockout win over Gerald Meerschaert. Chimaev was supposed to fight Leon Edwards after that win, however Chimaev caught COVID and was out of competition for nearly a year due to that and the long term effects it had on him.
Chimaev made his return to the octagon in October 2021 when he picked up a first round submission win over Li Jingliang at UFC 267. In his most recent fight, Chimaev faced off against former welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns. That fight was the first time in his career that Chimaev had seen a third round. They went the distance, and when the scorecards were read, Chimaev had won by unanimous decision to put him at #3 in the welterweight division rankings.
Holland comes into this fight with a record of 2-2, 1 NC in his last five fights dating back to the beginning of 2021. The first half of that year did not go very well for Holland as he dropped back-to-back unanimous decisions. The first of those was against Derek Brunson in Holland’s first main event at UFC Vegas 22. He would then go on to lose to Marvin Vettori by unanimous decision in his second main event at UFC Vegas 23. In his next fight, he faced Kyle Daukaus at UFC Vegas 38. That fight ended in a no contest after an accidental clash of heads forced Holland to be unfit to continue.
Since the start of 2022, Holland has bounced back from those fights as he has won his last two in a row. He started the year off with a second round TKO win over Alex Oliveira at UFC 272 in a welterweight fight, followed by a submission win over Tim Means back at middleweight in the second round of their fight at UFC on ESPN 37. In a short notice fight against one of the toughest guys to face in the division, Holland looks to pull off a huge upset and put himself in the top ten at middleweight.
UFC 279 Results – Jingliang vs. Rodriguez
With Kevin Holland and Tony Ferguson accepting fights against new opponents, that left their original opponents without a fight. So, the UFC just matched them up together and now, in another catchweight fight, Li Jingliang, who weighed in for a welterweight fight, will take on Daniel Rodriguez, who weighed in for a 180lb catchweight fight. Jingliang has stated he has no problem giving up the ten pound weight advantage to Rodriguez.
Coming into this fight, Jingliang picked up a win in his most recent fight as he bounced back from his loss to Chimaev with a second round TKO win over Muslim Salikhov at UFC on ABC 3. As for Rodriguez, he enters this fight a winner of his last three in a row. Of those wins, he holds unanimous decision wins over Mike Perry at UFC Vegas 23 and Kevin Lee at UFC Vegas 35. In between those UD wins, D-Rod also picked up a first round TKO win over Preston Parsons at UFC Vegas 31.
UFC 279 Results – Main Card
Kicking things off on the main card for UFC 279 will be a fight in the light heavyweight division as Johnny Walker takes on Ion Cutelaba. Walker looks to snap a two fight win streak in this fight following a UD loss to Thiago Santos at UFC Vegas 38 followed by a knockout loss to Jamahal Hill in the first round of their main event at UFC Vegas 48. Cutelaba also looks to bounce back from a loss in this one as he was submitted in his most recent outing against Ryan Spann at UFC Vegas 54.
Finally, before it gets to the rearranged fights, there will be a women’s catchweight matchup between Irene Aldana and Macy Chiasson. Aldana has not fought since summer 2021 when she finished Yana Kunitskaya by TKO in the first round of their fight at UFC 264. Chiasson will also be entering the fight coming off a win in her last outing as she defeated Norma Dumont by split decision earlier this year at UFC 274.
UFC 272 Results
Follow along with MMASucka as we provide UFC 279 Results throughout the card.
MAIN CARD (PPV/ESPN+ – 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST)
Nate Diaz def. Tony Ferguson via Submission (Guillotine) at 2:52 of Round Four
Khamzat Chimaev def. Kevin Holland via Submission (D’Arce Choke) at 2:13 of Round One
Daniel Rodriguez def. Li Jingliang via Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Irene Aldana def. Macy Chiasson via TKO (Body Up-Kick) at 2:21 of Round Three
Johnny Walker def. Ion Cutelaba via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 4:37 of Round One
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPNews – 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST)
Julian Erosa def. Hakeem Dawodu* via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Jailton Almeida def. Anton Turkalj via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 4:27 of Round One
Denis Tiuliulin def. Jamie Pickett via TKO (Strikes) at 4:52 of Round Two
Chris Barnett** def. Jake Collier via TKO (Punches) at 2:24 of Round Two
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass – 6 p.m. EST/3 p.m. PST)
Norma Dumont def. Danyelle Wolf via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Alatengheili def. Chad Anheliger via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Elise Reed def. Melissa Martinez via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Yohan Lainesse def. Darian Weeks via Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
*Dawodu missed weight at 149.5 pounds and will forfeit 30 percent of his purse
**Barnett missed weight at 267.5 pounds and will forfeit 20 percent of his purse
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