UFC 279 Nate Diaz vs. Tony Ferguson: Start times, how to watch, weigh-in madness

Well, that was weird. Where do we even begin?

Let’s start with Nate Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev. That was the battle supposed to the title at UFC 279. But Chimaev missed weight in a big way, coming in 7.5 pounds over the 171 limit. To save the card, the UFC had to rearrange the entire main card.

Read more: How to get ESPN Plus for UFC 279

After negotiations between the fighters, there is a new main event. And one that, oddly enough, makes a lot more sense.

Instead of being defeated by Chimaev, Nate Diaz now faces fellow UFC legend Tony Ferguson.

Chimaev now fights Kevin Holland at 179 pounds in the co-main event. Considering these two have been running circles around each other sending taunts at each other for months, this fight could also make a lot of sense.

Li Jingliang, who was originally going to fight Tony Ferguson, now faces Holland’s old opponent, Daniel Rodriguez.

In short, we went from…

• Khamzat Chimaev vs. Nate Diaz
• Tony Ferguson vs Li Jingliang
• Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez

To…

• Nate Diaz vs. Tony Ferguson
• Khamzat Chimaev vs. Kevin Holland
• Li Jingliang vs. Daniel Rodriguez

Probably the biggest loser here is Li Jingliang, who went from a prestigious co-main event with a legend in Tony Ferguson to a really tough fight with a bigger man in Daniel Rodriguez.

But the map is alive.

Press conference cancelled?

It’s been a chaotic few days. Before the weigh-in circus, UFC president Dana White was forced to cancel the UFC 279 press conference at the last minute, following a huge backstage brawl involving Chimaev and Kevin Holland, another fighter on the undercard.

The couple bickered back and forth before things got physical. Members of Diaz’s entourage also reportedly joined in, throwing bottles.

MMA reporter Ariel Helwani has the full story.

It’s all par for the course with a fight with Diaz.

UFC 279 start time

The main card of UFC 279 begins at 10:00 PM ET (7:00 PM PT) on September 10. Here are all the details from multiple time zones.

US

• The main card begins on September 10 at 10:00 PM ET (7:00 PM PT).
• Preliminaries begin September 10th at 8:00 PM ET (5:00 AM PT).
• Early bird prelims begin September 10th at 6:00 PM ET (3:00 PM PT).

Great Britain

• The main card starts on September 11, 3am BST.
• The preliminary matches start on September 11, 1 am Bulgarian Standard Time.
• The early qualifiers start on September 10, 23:00 BST.

Australia

• The main card starts on September 11, 12pm AEDT.
• The preliminary matches start on September 11, 10am AEDT.
• The early prelims start on September 11, 8:00am AEDT.

How to watch UFC 279

The UFC already has a partnership with ESPN. This is great news for the UFC and the expansion of the sport of MMA, but bad news for consumer choice. Especially if you are one of the UFC fans who want to watch UFC in USA.

In the US, if you want to know how to watch UFC 279, you’ll only find fight night on pay-per-view via ESPN Plus. The cost structure is a bit confusing, but here are the options for watching UFC on ESPN, according to ESPN’s website:

• Existing ESPN Plus annual subscribers can order the upcoming UFC card for $75.
• New ESPN Plus subscribers can purchase a package of one UFC PPV event (streaming in HD) and an annual recurring subscription to ESPN Plus for $100. That’s a decent deal. ESPN Plus Annual Subscription will automatically renew after one year at the ESPN Plus Annual Subscription price at the time of automatic renewal.

You can do all of the above at the link below.

MMA fans in the UK can watch UFC 278 exclusively on BT Sport.

There are more options if you live in Australia. You can watch UFC 278 on Foxtel’s Main Event. You can also stream through Kayo for AU$55. You can even order through your PlayStation or through the UFC app on your Xbox.

Need more international viewing options? Try a VPN to change your IP address to access the US, UK or Australia options listed above. Check out the best VPNs recommended by CNET editors.

Full fight card

As always, these maps are subject to change.

Main PPV card

• Nate Diaz vs. Tony Ferguson
• Khamzat Chimaev vs. Kevin Holland
• Li Jingliang vs. Daniel Rodriguez
• Irene Aldana vs. Macy Chiasson
• Johnnie Walker vs Ion Kutelaba

Preliminary exams

• Hakeem Dawodu vs. Julian Erosa
• Jailton Almeida vs. Anton Turkalj
• Denis Tiullin v Jamie Pickett
• Jake Collier vs Chris Barnett

Early prelims

• Danielle Wolf vs. Norma Dumont
• Chad Angeliger vs. Hailey Alateng
• Elise Reed vs. Melissa Martinez
• Darian Weeks vs Yohan Lainesse