THE seemingly cursed UFC 303 card has undergone yet another major change – midway through the event.
The International Fight Week card was initially supposed to be headlined by the long-awaited return of superstar Conor McGregor.
But The Notorious was forced to pull out of his comeback clash with Michael Chandler due to injury.
The card’s initial co-main event between Khalil Rountree Jr and Jamahal Hill also fell through, as did the rescheduled fights between Carlos Ulberg and Hill and Ulberg and Anthony Smith.
A featherweight showdown – which was bumped up to lightweight on Friday – between fan favourites Bryan Ortega and Diego Lopes.
But that fight fell through just HOURS before it was due to take place.
Ortega was forced to withdraw from the contest due to illness.
And company man Dan Ige stepped in to replace the former title challenger after learning of Ortega’s illness a few hours ago.
Ige was relaxing getting a MASSAGE when UFC bigwig Hunter Campbell reached out to him to see if he’d be willing to step in and fight.
MMA fans couldn’t quite believe Ige’s willingness to wade into the fire on such short notice.
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One wrote on X: “BMF.”
Another said: “Badass s**t.”
And another said: “BMF activities.”
One remarked: “IDK whose balls are bigger between the two of them, but they might not fit in the octagon.
“lopes trained for a different fighter, and weighed 146lbs two days ago.
“And Ige…was he just at home doing what I’m doing.”
Another chimed in: “Holy s**t.”
One Ige fan said: “Ige has earned so much respect these last few years. Gangster.”
