UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos pulled out of UFC 196 on Tuesday due to an injury and stepping up on less than two weeks notice to face Conor McGregor in the main event of next Saturday’s fight card will be Nate Diaz.
UFC President Dana White announced the new fight booking on late Tuesday evening on ESPN.
UFC 196 will come from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on March 5 and along with the new main event, the fight card will see Holly Holm defend the women’s bantamweight title against Miesha Tate.
Diaz (18-10) has won two of his last three fights and is coming off a win against Michael Johnson at UFC on FOX 17 in December. Since this is a short notice fight, his fight with McGregor will be a welterweight bout and both fighters will be doing a media workout today in California.
The current UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz fight card is below.
Main Card: (PPV – 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT)
Conor McGregor (19-2) vs. Nate Diaz (18-10)
Holly Holm (10-0) vs. Miesha Tate (17-5)
Gian Villante (14-6) vs. Ilir Latifi (11-4, 1NC)
Corey Anderson (8-1) vs. Tom Lawlor (9-5, 1NC)
Amanda Nunes (11-4) vs. Valentina Shevchenko (12-1)
Preliminary Card: (FS1 – 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT)
Brandon Thatch (11-3) vs. Siyar Bahadurzada (21-6-1)
Erick Silva (18-6, 1NC) vs. Nordine Taleb (10-3)
Vitor Miranda (11-4) vs. Marcelo Guimaraes (9-1-1)
Darren Elkins (19-5) vs. Chas Skelly (15-1)
Preliminary Card: (UFC Fight Pass – 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m PT)
Diego Sanchez (25-8) vs. Jim Miller (25-7, 1NC)
Justin Salas (12-6) vs. Jason Saggo (10-2)
Julian Erosa (15-2) vs. Teruto Ishihara (7-2-2)