Happy International Fight Week to all who celebrate. The UFC’s annual celebration of the sport goes down in Las Vegas this week with Saturday’s revamped pay-per-view card generating plenty of buzz.
UFC 303 was supposed to be the anticipated return of the biggest star in mixed martial arts history, however, the injury gods had different plans for Conor McGregor and several other fighters originally set to compete at the June 29 event at T-Mobile Arena.
With the organization’s 12th International Fight Week officially underway, let’s look at the significant overhaul this event has undergone, plus what else fans can look forward to this week.
Original main event: Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler
Original co-main event: Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.
A blockbuster co-main event is typically not required when McGregor is atop a PPV main card and instead of marketing the Ian Machado Garry vs. Michael “Venom” Page matchup as the co-main, which would’ve given the event an added “the Irish have invaded Las Vegas feel” with Garry also being from there and emulating McGregor in many ways, the UFC decided instead to put former 205-pound titleholder Hill against fellow knockout artist Rountree Jr.
Rumours began to swirl the main event could be in jeopardy at the beginning of the month when a special press conference scheduled for Dublin was cancelled last minute under vague circumstances. It is clear now the reason for the cancellation was the fact McGregor broke his pinky toe.
The UFC began hitting the phones behind the scenes when it began looking like McGregor could pull out. Once it was official McGregor would not be fighting at the event, the UFC scrambled to revamp the International Fight Week main card and the contingency plan they’ve cobbled together on late notice is compelling and ultimately left the UFC 303 card slightly deeper than it initially was.
New main event: Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka
New co-main event: Bran Ortega vs. Diego Lopes
New main card bout: Anthony Smith vs. Roman Dolidze
One of the only viable title fights that could’ve been put together on such short notice was a rematch between Pereira vs. Prochazka, both of whom were victorious in highlight fashion at UFC 300 in April. Pereira beat Prochazka in November when they headlined UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Pereira has become a top star in the UFC and his legend as a two-sport, two-weight champion grows week by week. The Brazilian kickboxer also stepped into the UFC 300 main event slot on relatively short notice after the UFC was having some difficulties figuring out what the main event for that historic card was going to be.
With McGregor no longer on the card, the UFC decided to bump the featured light-heavyweight matchup down the card one spot and introduced a brand new, fan-friendly featherweight co-main event between Brain Ortega and Diego Lopes to supplement the lineup.
The matchup that began as the Hill vs. Rountree Jr., co-main has changed four times this month. Carlos Ulberg originally replaced Rountree Jr., after Roundtree was suspended for a banned substance then Anthony Smith was announced as a replacement for an injured Hill. Late last week, Ulberg withdrew from the event and Smith was left without an opponent until rugged middleweight Roman Dolidze accepted a short-notice fight up a weight class.
The preliminary card, which features three Canadian fighters, has remained intact except for one bout. Cody Durden withdrew from his scheduled flyweight contest with Carlos Hernandez due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by 9-0 Rei Tsuruya, a 22-year-old fresh off his 125-pound tournament win on Season 2 of Road to UFC.
With all the changes mentioned above, plus the string of additional bad luck the UFC has had with some of its recent Fight Night bookings, fans might have to wait until after Friday’s weigh-ins to see the final bout order or if there will be any more eleventh-hour tweaks to the card.
Below is the official UFC 303 bout order as of Monday:
MAIN CARD
— Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka
— Bran Ortega vs. Diego Lopes
— Anthony Smith vs. Roman Dolidze
— Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Macy Chiasson
— Ian Machado Garry vs. Michael Page
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Charles Jourdain vs. Jean Silva
— Joe Pyfer vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
— Cub Swanson vs. Andre Fili
— Payton Talbott vs. Yanis Ghemmouri
— Michelle Waterson-Gomez vs. Gillian Robertson
— Andrei Arlovski vs. Martin Buday
— Rei Tsuruya vs. Carlos Hernandez
— Ricky Simon vs. Vinicius Oliveira
WHAT ELSE TO LOOK FOR
The UFC 303 media day, during which competing fighters meet with gathered reporters, takes place Wednesday. Some of the featured main card fighters will also participate in the official press conference Thursday. The 2024 UFC Hall of Fame induction ceremony takes place Thursday night.
Sportsnet’s Aaron Bronsteter will be in Las Vegas for UFC 303 alongside UFC bantamweight Aiemann Zahabi. Stay tuned to Sportsnet channels, Sportsnet+ and Sportsnet.ca for their coverage.
Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Kayla Harrison, Charles Oliveira, Alexandre Pantoja, Kevin Holland, Stipe Miocic, Brandon Moreno, Amanda Nunes and Joanna Jedrzejczyk will be in Las Vegas and are among the star fighters expected to attend various events as part of International Fight Week.
The UFC’s commentary A Team, so to speak, will be manning the desk on fight night with Jon Anik providing play-by-play with Joe Rogan, Daniel Cormier, and occasionally Din Thomas, providing commentary and analysis.