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Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos was seen in Las Vegas at the fighter hotel while cutting weight, as reported by MMA journalist Damon Martin.
The sight of Dos Anjos just a few days before UFC 264 sparked rumors that he may be there to replace either Dustin Poirier or Conor McGregor in the main event. Later on, Conor McGregor partly confirmed that he might not be getting replaced by making this tweet.
In another potential setback to the main card of UFC 264, Sean O'Malley's opponent, Louis Smolka, was replaced by non-UFC fighter Kris Moutinho last week.
Smolka had to pull out of the fight due to a staph infection. Since nobody on the UFC's bantamweight roster was willing to take the fight at such short notice, Kris Moutinho, who is on a professional four-fight win-streak, was made Smolka's replacement.
That brings us to the question of whether last-minute replacement fighters are a good idea to save an event. Some fighters in the UFC's past have proven to be great replacement fighters.
Here are five such fighters who stepped in at the last minute and stole the show:
#5 Paul Felder at UFC Fight Night 182
'The Irish Dragon' was Islam Makhachev's replacement in the fight against Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night 182. Makhachev had to pull out from the fight due to a staph infection.
While the event was set to take place on 14 November 2020, Makhachev pulled out of the fight on November 8. Paul Felder stepped into his shoes the very next day, taking the fight on a five-day notice.
Felder not only managed to cut weight in time, but also managed to dish out a performance that earned him the FIght of The Night award against Dos Anjos.
Unfortunately for Paul Felder, the fight went to the judges' scorecards, and the result was a victory for his Brazilianopponent.
#4 Brian Ortega at UFC 222
Being the top UFC featherweight contender at the time, Frankie Edgar was set for a title fight against then UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway at UFC 222.
However, Holloway had to pull out of the fight due to a leg injury, and Brian Ortega took the fight on a three-week notice. Ortega came into this fight as an undefeated fighter. He had beaten Cub Swanson and Renato Moicano in two of his previous fights.
While it was expected that Ortega would take the fight to the realm of grappling due to his background in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, the opposite took place. 'T-City' won the fight with a spectacular first-round knockout by way of an uppercut, thus becoming the first man to earn a finish against Edgar.
#3 TJ Dillashaw at UFC 173
Then UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao was scheduled to face Raphael Assuncao at UFC 173.
Assuncao had to pull out of the event due to a rib injury. TJ Dillashaw, who was scheduled to fight Takeya Mizugaki on the same night, was moved up the card as a replacement for Assuncao.
Dillashaw would go on to cause one of the greatest upsets in MMA history by breaking 'The Baron's legendary 32 fight win-streak. After dominating most of the fight, Dillashaw won by a fifth-round TKO by way of head kicks and punches.
#2 Nate Diaz at UFC 196
UFC featherweight champion at the time Conor McGregor was scheduled to make his debut at lightweight against the UFC lightweight champion at the time, Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 196 on March 5 2016. This was to be the Irishman's first attempt at becoming the first simultaneous two-weight division champion.
However, Dos Anjos was forced out of the fight after breaking his foot during training. This announcement was made on February 23. Nate Diaz became Rafael Dos Anjos' replacement for this fight following his call-out of Conor McGregor in the post-fight interview after his previous win at UFC on FOX 17.
Nate Diaz took the fight on an eleven-day notice. The fight was scheduled to be a welterweight bout due to the lack of time for both fighters to be able to make weight for lightweight.
Nate Diaz won the fight by a second-round submission with a rear-naked choke, thus handing the decorated Conor McGregor his first loss in the UFC as Diaz earned his ninth submission win in the promotion.
Apart from Nate Diaz, only Royce Gracie had that many submission wins in the UFC at that point in time. Diaz also received the Fight of the Night honors and a Performance of the Night bonus.
#1 Justin Gaethje at UFC 249
Tony Ferguson was the interim UFC lightweight champion scheduled to fight UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in a title unification bout at UFC 249.
However, due to air travel restrictions in Russia as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nurmagomedov was not allowed to make the trip for UFC 249. Hence, Ferguson agreed to defend his interim title on the same night against Justin Gaethje.
'El Cucuy' who was touted to be the only fighter in the UFC lightweight division who could defeat Nurmagomedov, would finally have gotten a chance in the future to defeat the Dagestani fighter had he won this fight.
However, 'The Highlight' snatched this opportunity from Ferguson. Throughout the fight, Gaethje outstruck Ferguson, but the Mexican-American fighter refused to give up as he would in any of his fights.
Ferguson's chin was put to the test like never before in this fight, as most people would have been knocked out after taking so many punches. Nonetheless, Ferguson did not get knocked down despite taking plenty of Gaethje's heavy punches head-on.
It was in the fifth round when Ferguson was seen shaking his head and avoiding the fight after taking Gaethje's punch that the fight was stopped. That handed Tony Ferguson the first TKO loss of his professional MMA career.
It was later found that Justin Gaethje's punch had broken Tony Ferguson's eye socket.
