Nate Diaz submits Tony Ferguson in UFC 279 main event, will leave promotion 'for a minute'

LAS VEGAS — When this week started, Nate Diaz's opponent was the dominant rising star Khamzat Chimaev — a little parting gift from the UFC as Diaz heads out the door.

On Saturday night, with Tony Ferguson as the opponent after a bizarre, unprecedented several days, Diaz will leave the promotion as a winner, courtesy of a guillotine choke submission at 2 minutes, 52 seconds of the fourth round in the main event of UFC 279 at T-Mobile Arena. And with that, the lore of Diaz — one of the most popular, unconventional fighters in MMA history — continues.

«I told them, 'Give me anybody you got,'» Diaz said in his postfight iterview. «At least I got a worthy OG representative of mixed martial arts.»

Diaz was originally supposed to fight Chimaev, but Chimaev missed weight by 7.5 pounds Friday, coming in at 178.5 for a 171-pound-limit bout. Diaz understandably opted not to fight an opponent who was so overweight. Diaz called Chimaev a «b---- ass rookie» and said he only trained wrestling during this camp, because Chimaev is a dominant wrestler.

Chimaev missing weight caused a chain reaction with the UFC attempting to save the pay-per-view card. For most of the day Friday, promotion brass, including chief business officer Hunter Campbell and UFC president Dana White, worked to alter the top three fights. Ferguson agreed to fight Diaz in a five-round fight.

This was the final fight on Diaz's UFC contract and he has indicated that he will not return to the promotion at this point. Earlier this week, Diaz's team announced Diaz would be starting his own combat sports promotion, Real Fight Inc. Diaz has been in the UFC since 2007 and is an 18-year pro in mixed martial arts.

«I want to get out of the UFC for a minute and show all these