Everything we know about the Dan Ige, Diego Lopes, Brian Ortega situation

Well, this has never happened before.

UPDATE: The UFC has confirmed the fight is official between Dan Ige and Diego Lopes. Brian Ortega came down with a dangerously high fever. Both fighters weighed in just moments ago with 161 pounds for Lopes, Ige at 164.5 pounds for a 165-pound catchweight.

"Brian Ortega was medically unable to compete. So they looked for a replacement," Jeff Mullen the NSAC director said. "Fortunately, Dan Ige lives right here in town and is licensed, we have all his medicals and requirements completed. He's ranked 14. It's a perfectly approvable match-up. I checked with our attorneys to make sure everything is in order. He was already training for a fight on July 20 so he was ready to go."

Dan Ige steps in to fight Diego Lopes on just a few hours notice

During the UFC 303 prelims, rumors started forming on MMA Twitter that Ige was stepping in to fight Lopes in the co-main event due to an illness to Brian Ortega. As we were writing, more information was being released. Here's how it all played out.

Helwani was the first to reveal concrete details about the developing situation after several vague tweets came before. Ige tweeted something that caught a lot of attention and was followed up with a tweet from his coach Eric Nicksick and his manager

Diego Lopes' manager also shared a very appropriate meme.

Many had wondered if it was even possible for a fighter to come in on such short notice and, at least for the medicals, it would be. Helwani also noted that Ige would need to weigh in before the fight, tonight. This is absolutely incredible stuff.

It appears as though the team is on the way to the venue now. We're just hours away from the co-main event, less than an hour away from the start of the co-main event.

Ortega and Lopes were initially called up as a short notice replacement when the Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler fight fell off the card. They were booked for a 145-pound fight but late Thursday night the fight was changed to a lightweight fight due to issues with Ortega cutting weight. Ige fought Andre Fili (who also happened to be fighting while all the drama was unfolding) in February and is currently slated to fight Chepe Mariscal next month.

Never has a fighter who wasn't already slated to fight stepped in on fight day for an illness or injury. If this is somehow able to be pulled off, it will make history.

So far the UFC has not made any announcement about the change and even referenced the Ortega fight during the break in fighting. We'll update you as soon as we know more.