UFC 279 has a new main event for this Saturday’s fight card in Las Vegas.
Tony Ferguson has moved up to the main event to fight Nate Diaz in a five-round welterweight fight after Diaz’s original opponent, Khamzat Chimaev, missed weight by 7.5 pounds on Friday night. It’s a stunning turn of events as Chimaev was set to enter his bout with Diaz as a hefty betting favorite. Now, Chimaev will end up facing Kevin Holland in a five-round co-main event at a catchweight of 180 pounds.
Normally, a late, unexpected weight miss can cause plenty of problems for the UFC who need to string together a few last-minute fights. However, in this case, they were well prepared and had many fighters booked at around the same weight for the UFC 279 fight card. And in the end, we’ve ended up with what seems to be a better fight card anyway, as Diaz vs. Ferguson is a much more competitive fight than Diaz vs. Chimaev.
Oddsmakers have released their lines for Diaz vs. Ferguson, and it’s unsurprisingly much tighter than the original main event. Diaz is currently a slight underdog at +105 odds. Ferguson, in his move up to welterweight, is the betting favorite at odds of -135.
- Nate Diaz: +105
- Tony Ferguson: -135
The betting odds represent a potential $105 profit for anyone who places a wager of $100 on Nate Diaz to win. On the other hand, $135 would need to be wagered on Tony Ferguson to return $100 profit on Saturday night.
Watch Diaz vs. Ferguson fight live
- Date:Â Saturday, Sept. 10
- Time:Â PPV Main Card starts at 10 pm ET, Prelims start at 6 pm ET
- Watch:Â
ESPN + PPV (order here)
Nate Diaz vs. Tony Ferguson is the main event of the UFC 279 PPV main card. Fans can order UFC 279 on the ESPN+ website to watch every main card fight live, including the Diaz vs. Ferguson fight. After ordering, fans can stream every UFC 279 fight to a preferred device, including TVs, mobiles, computers, laptops, tablets, and more.
UFC 279 odds
Saturday, Sept. 10 – T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
Main Card – 10:00 pm ET / 7:00 pm PT only onÂ
- Nate Diaz (+110) vs. Tony Ferguson (-140)
- Khamzat Chimaev (-600) vs. Kevin Holland (+400)
- Li Jingliang (+115) vs. Daniel Rodriguez (-145)
- Irene Aldana (-170) vs. Macy Chiasson (+140)
- Johnny Walker (+180) vs. Ion Cutelaba (-230)
Prelims – 8:00 pm ET / 5:00 pm PT on ESPN+
- Hakeem Dawodu (-220) vs. Julian Erosa (+175)
- Denis Tiuliulin (+110) vs. Jamie Pickett (-140)
- Jake Collier (-500) vs. Chris Barnett (+350)
Early Prelims– 6:30 pm ET / 3:30 pm PT on ESPN+
- Norma Dumont (-420) vs. Danyelle Wolf (+320)
- Chad Anheliger (+140) vs. Alateng Heili (-170)
- Melissa Martinez (-175) vs. Elise Reed (+145)
- Darian Weeks (-120) vs. Yohan Lainesse (-110)