Nate Diaz to the rescue?
Over the weekend, it was announced that UFC Featherweight champion Max “Blessed” Holloway was injured and removed from his headlining fight against Frankie Edgar at UFC 222. They were the jewel fight atop of a weak card, and the UFC immediately became desperate to either replace Holloway or add another stunning fight to the card.
MMA reported Ariel Helwani immediately started releasing news over twitter:
“Not finalized, but the current plan is Edgar vs. Ortega in a non-title fight on March 3. And if that gets done, then they’d hope to have a new title fight (TJ vs. Cody 2 has been discussed) as the headliner. Still fluid at the moment. Developing.”
TJ Dillashaw vs Cody Garbrandt 2 would be a rematch of their spectacular and closely contested fight at UFC 217, where TJ reclaimed his Bantamweight title after getting almost finished in the first round. Cody was quick to jump on the rumors himself:
Hey bang! Your fighter needed help to the stool after round one! You know what it is! Lighting doesn’t strike twice, take the fucking fight bitchass mfers! I accepted! Balls in your court. @TJDillashaw
— Cody Garbrandt (@Cody_Nolove) February 3, 2018
But TJ was equally quick to shoot down this proposal, citing his own long slog back to the title after narrowly losing the belt in 2016 and his desire to fight Flyweight champion Demetroious Johnson this summer. According to DJ, negotiations for that superfight are underway.
So it appears as if Brian Ortega vs Frankie Edgar will headline 222 with the winner receiving a shot at Holloway once he is healed. Brian is on a 5-fight win streak and is undefeated in the UFC. His excellent striking is supplemented with a dangerous submission game which he developed over years training at the Gracie Academy in Torrance, CA. At only 26 years of age, he will represent the new generation taking on the old school savvy of veteran Frankie Edgar.
But another wild card has been introduced, according to one reporter, Nate Diaz has volunteered himself to save the card. It’s unclear who he would face, likely Eddie Alvarez or Kevin Lee at Lightweight, but if true he would make a phenomenal headliner.
For more news and updates, follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
