In the end, UFC 279 wasn’t the fight card the fans, or the UFC expected, but in a way, that was a good thing.
When Khamzat Chimaev missed the welterweight limit for his planned scrap with Nate Diaz by 7.5 pounds, the UFC’s dream of sending Diaz into free agency with a crushing defeat evaporated into the desert air. Instead, Diaz faced Tony Ferguson in a bout between two well-respected fighters that ended with Diaz closing out his UFC contract with his first guillotine choke submission since his memorable finish of Jim Miller at UFC on FOX 3 in May 2012(!