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Unlike some of the other big promotions in MMA history, the UFC has always attempted to plan its events meticulously, often months in advance, in order to drum up the most publicity possible.
Over the years, though, we’ve seen a number of UFC events that ended up being changed at literally the last minute.
Sure, changes due to injuries happen regularly, but for the most part, these happen weeks or months prior to an event. The following events, though, had to be changed on much shorter notice.
Here are five UFC events that have suffered last-minute changes – and what happened next.
#5. UFC 279: Diaz vs. Ferguson
The most recent example of a UFC event that suffered last-minute changes came this weekend, as UFC 279 saw its top three bouts switched around after a chaotic weigh-in that followed an already wild build-up.
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Initially, the event was supposed to be headlined by a welterweight bout between Khamzat Chimaev and Nate Diaz, with a co-headliner of Tony Ferguson vs. Li Jingliang, also in the welterweight division. On the preliminary card, meanwhile, Kevin Holland was booked to face Daniel Rodriguez in a 180lbs catchweight clash.
Two days before the event, fans were given a glimpse of the chaos to come when the official press conference was canceled by Dana White after an apparent melee backstage involving Chimaev, Diaz, Holland and numerous other fighters, but few could’ve predicted what would happen next.
‘Borz’ somehow came into the weigh-in way over the 170lbs welterweight limit, tipping the scales at 178.5lbs. Unsurprisingly, this meant that his fight with Diaz was in jeopardy, essentially putting the entire show on the line.
Incredibly, though, White – and the promotion’s CEO Hunter Campbell – ended up scrambling and pulling out a trump card. How they got all of the fighters to agree remains a mystery, but to salvage things, they switched the fights around – matching Diaz with Ferguson in a welterweight main event, putting Chimaev and Holland together and leaving Jingliang to face Rodriguez.
Remarkably, the gamble paid off hugely. The majority of fans – who were unsure about watching Diaz suffer a probable mauling at the hands of Chimaev – were happy with the switch. More to the point, Holland and ‘Borz’ already had a rivalry stemming from the backstage brawl.
In the end, the event was an excellent one; Chimaev whitewashed Holland in the first round, submitting him with a D’Arce choke, and due to his weigh-in failure now appears to be the biggest villain in the promotion.
Diaz, meanwhile, submitted Ferguson in the fourth round of a truly excellent fight that pitted two aging legends against one another and featured far more mutual respect than the original booking would’ve done.
Overall, things couldn’t have gone any better for the promotion in this case, and the show should be seen as another example of why the UFC remain the worldwide leaders in terms of MMA promotion.
#4. UFC on Versus: Kongo vs. Barry
Cheick Kongo’s 2011 win over Pat Barry is usually remembered as not only one of the best heavyweight bouts in UFC history, but also one of the promotion’s greatest comebacks, too.
However, the bout was not initially pegged to headline the promotion’s fourth show on the Versus network – that spot was supposed to belong to a welterweight clash between Nate Marquardt and Anthony Johnson.
That fight ended up being nixed when Johnson suffered a shoulder injury, but Rick Story was quickly pegged as a replacement, and right up until the day of the weigh-ins, the bout between ‘The Horror’ and ‘Nate the Great’ was expected to go ahead.
Bizarrely, though, on the day of the weigh-ins, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission refused to give Marquardt medical clearance to fight. The odd situation got even stranger when the UFC immediately cut ‘Nate the Great’ from his contract due to the apparent seriousness of the issue – which could not be disclosed due to Pennsylvania’s health privacy laws.
Naturally, a furious Dana White and company were forced to scramble, and so with less than 24 hours before the event, the card was heavily changed. Kongo and Barry saw their co-headline bout bumped into the main slot, while Story was matched with Charlie Brenneman, who had seen his initial opponent TJ Grant withdraw due to illness just three days earlier.
In the end, the show turned out to be a fantastic one, as not only did Kongo and Barry produce a classic, but Brenneman also pulled off a major upset, beating the heavily favored Story via unanimous decision.
As for Marquardt? He eventually revealed that the reason he was pulled was due to abnormally high testosterone levels caused by testosterone replacement therapy – something that would haunt the promotion on multiple occasions in the years that followed.
#3. UFC47: It’s On
Prior to the MMA boom caused by the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, UFC shows that really piqued the interest of casual fans were few and far between. One of those shows, though, was UFC 47, which took place in April 2004 and featured the long-awaited clash between friends-turned-rivals Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.
While all of the hype was on the fight between Ortiz and Liddell, the event was also expected to be buoyed by a fight for the vacant UFC heavyweight title between former champ Tim Sylvia and top contender Andrei Arlovski.
Sylvia had initially claimed the title in early 2003, but was forced to vacate it later that year when he tested positive for an anabolic steroid – something that would return to haunt him.
On the day before the event, it was announced that Sylvia had tested positive again, and although it was recognized that the positive test came from the initial dose of steroids he’d taken back in 2003, he was still unable to be cleared to fight.
The UFC were forced to shelve the idea of a title fight, but they managed to salvage the card somewhat by moving undercard fighter Wesley Correira up to face Arlovski, while Wes Sims stepped in on a day’s notice to fight Correira’s initial opponent, Mike Kyle.
Naturally, thanks to the Ortiz vs. Liddell main event, nobody really minded the changes – particularly when both of the new fights delivered brutal knockouts. As for Sylvia, he returned two months later to fight Frank Mir for the vacant title, losing via armbar in the first round.
#2. UFC 177: Dillashaw vs. Soto
UFC 177 was infamously labeled the “haunted event” by Joe Rogan, and it was with good reason. The event saw multiple fights changed or scrapped, but the biggest change occurred on the day of the weigh-ins.
After the promotion was forced to push the rematch between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson back by a month, the event was supposed to be headlined by a rematch between bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw and former titleholder Renan Barao.
However, just hours before the event’s official weigh-in, it was suddenly announced that Barao would not be able to compete.
Reportedly, he’d become unwell during his weight-cutting process – it later emerged he’d knocked himself unconscious climbing out of a bath – and after being taken to hospital, was pulled from the event by the California State Athletic Commission.
Given that the event’s co-headliner featured Tony Ferguson and Danny Castillo, hardly superstar names at the time, the UFC were forced to think quickly and made a gutsy last-minute call.
They elevated Joe Soto, who was supposed to face Anthony Birchak in a preliminary bout, up to face Dillashaw for the title – making him one of just a handful of fighters to compete for a title in their promotional debut.
Unfortunately for the debutant, he couldn’t shock the world, as Dillashaw dealt with him comfortably, dispatching him via TKO in the fifth round.
Barao would eventually get his rematch with the champ eventually – but it wasn’t until nearly a year later, and the fight ended with the same result, a TKO win for Dillashaw.
#1. UFC 24: First Defense
The UFC event with the most bizarre last-minute change remains UFC 24, which took place deep into the promotion’s so-called ‘Dark Ages’, when they were banned from cable television, and even home video releases were few and far between.
The event was subtitled ‘First Defense’, in reference to the fact that the headline bout was supposed to see newly-crowned heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman defending his title for the first time against top contender Pedro Rizzo.
In this instance, the fight made it through the weigh-ins intact, and for all intents and purposes, when the event began, everything seemed to be going to plan.
That was until Randleman somehow managed to slip during his warm-up backstage, striking his head on the concrete floor and knocking himself unconscious.
Unbeknownst to the fans in attendance, and those who had found a way to watch the event on pay-per-view, ‘The Monster’ was then transported by ambulance to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with concussion and pulled from the event.
Remarkably, the scrapping of the fight was only announced at the end of the show – which ended up finishing with a completely unremarkable heavyweight bout that saw Tedd Williams stop Steve Judson via first round TKO.
Naturally, the event quickly became recognized as one of the worst in the history of the promotion – despite five of the seven bouts ending in stoppages.
Randleman’s fight with Rizzo, meanwhile, was rescheduled for UFC 26 three months later – and turned out to be one of the dullest fights in MMA history, meaning it was hard not to view the bout as entirely cursed.
