LAS VEGAS -- When Friday ended, the UFC 279 main card was completely different than the one scheduled when the day began.
In an unprecedented turn of events, the top three fights set for Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena were all altered by Friday evening, a chain reaction set off by once-headliner Khamzat Chimaev missing weight by 7.5 pounds. Nate Diaz, Chimaev's expected opponent in the main event, declined to fight someone who missed weight so badly, rather understandably.
The UFC, led by chief business officer Hunter Campbell and president Dana White, scrambled to reshape the biggest bouts until late afternoon local time.