UFC 303: Start time, round-by-round updates and undercard results and Alex Pereira defends title in rematch against Jiri Prochazka after Ian Garry defeats Michael ‘Venom’ Page

Wow. Pereira smashes Prochazka in the final second of the round with a trademark left hook. The Czech even thought the ref had called it off but it was just the end of the first five minutes. Pereira had the better of the round overall too.

Bruce Buffer is doing his thing and the tension is palpable. Pereira and Prochazka are staring eachother down, standing completely still. We’re moments away.

The plod walk, the arrow, the roar, this guy is one of the biggest stars in MMA already and his legend can grow more tonight. He has the IT factor and appears to be in Prochazka’s head, with the man from Czechia even claiming his opponent is using Shamans and black magic.

Last time Pereira had a rematch in the UFC it was against Adesanya and we all know how that ended. Will Prochazka work him out in the same way?

The one we’ve been waiting for. What a fight their first encounter was last November. Prochazka was having great moments and perhaps winning until he wasn’t. That’s the issue with fighting Pereira, he can switch off the lights at any moment and it doesn’t even need to be his best shot.

Lopes – ‘Ige thank you so much brother, not many people take a fight on three hours notice! As I said at the weigh-ins, anyone, any time. I will fight anybody.’

Ige – ‘This is what I live for. I was getting a massage and got a call saying ‘do you want to fight tonight’, to show up at four hours notice I couldn’t be happier with my performance. I would love to fight at the sphere, Dana you have my number.’

Ige follows up on the instructions from his coaches and empties the tank, landing some really heavy shots and pushing the pace on a Lopes who looks fatigued. He ends the round on top landing ground and pound but can’t find a finish and it should be relatively easy to score two rounds to one in the Brazilian’s favour.

Ige lands a head kick but is off balance and ends up being taken down and put in a body lock. Ige knows exactly what to do in defence but that’s about it, he lands some nice hands from bottom but is unable to change position and the Brazilian dominated the majority. Ige needs a finish and his coaches tell him to take chances.

Lopes is like a mad dog in there, swings wild and then follows up his flurrys with a knee up the middle. Ige takes a bit of getting used to it and then is almost choked out with a d’arce towards the eend of the round, but he’s a black belt in jiu-jitsu and just about defends it adequately. A frantic first five minutes.

These two love a busy fight and put themselves in harm’s way to try and get the job done in thrilling style.

Ige has everything to gain and nothing to lose. He’s saved the co-main event by heroically stepping up because Ortega has a fever and had to pull out at the 11th hour. The Hawaiian is a top operator too so this will be no gimme for Lopes. The Brazilian is one of the rising stars of the sport and one of the most exciting too. No 14-ranked at featherweight and he deserves praise for accepting all the madness coming his way this week.

Dolidze takes the win and says: ‘You guys boo me but I’m top 10 in two weight classes, I will make sure you remember me in future. I don’t want to blame anything, new weight class for me. I will continue to compete at light-heavyweight and will be a champion. I will learn about this class, I am ready for both. I want to fight Khamzat in middleweight.’

Dolidze somehow looked the fresher man despite taking it on late notice. He’s not a natural light-heavyweight and should move back down but tonight he’s surely done enough. They’ve trained together before so there was plenty of mutual respect. The Georgian was slightly more dynamic and had the speed advantage to stay out of trouble.

The Georgian spends most of the round on top and towards the end lands the shot of the fight, a left hook that stuns Smith and has the American temporarily rocked on his feet and looking at the clock, Dolidze doesn’t rush to follow it up but now heading into the third Smith needs a finish.

Boos from the crowd but that’s ridiculous. Smith and Dolidze are both swinging hard, landing plenty of leg kicks and are only one shot away from ending this in a flash. Smith is putting the pressure on but Dolidze had the better work in the opener with slightly more dynamism.

It’s been a stellar week for Georgian sports fans after that historic win over Portugal at the Euros and Roman Dolidze could continue that momentum tonight against the wily old veteran Anthony Smith at light-heavyweight. Dolidze has been waiting by the phone for a long time and to Smith’s credit, he is not one to turn a fight now. A really nice spotlight on these two tonight especially with their peers fighting for the belt later.

Chiasson takes the win and says: ‘I was hoping we could keep going, she’s one of the best in the world. We didn’t want to stay in guard with her but I’ve been training consistently, I live for this, I dedicate my entire life to this.’

Silva takes a nasty elbow on the ground and the cut above her eye is horrible, a really deep wound that the referee stops the fight for to seek medical advice. There’s blood everywhere and it’s too deep to continue. Savage.

Silva packs a punch and lands plenty of power shots but isn’t particularly elusive going the other way, meaning Chiasson is right in the fight and uses her height advantage well with knees in the clinch. The Brazilian did the better work in the first five minutes.

Brazil vs USA now in a women’s bantamweight clash. Former Ultimate Fighter winner Chiasson submitted Pannie Kianzad back in March, while Silva is coming off a defeat in an attempt to win the vacant title.

Surely Garry is only one more big win away from a title shot. Shavkat probably deserves one next after Belal Muhammad but perhaps he could be persuaded to take on the Irish surging star first.

Garry does indeed sneak it on that third round.

He tells Joe Rogan: ‘Nothing surprised me, I knew how sharp he was, patience was the key to victory today. He defended the rear naked choke well. I want to let everyone know I’m coming for the belt, it’s the future, it’s inevitable. You have to plan for every scenario but I am out here representing Brazil and Ireland and having f***ing fun.’

Tough one to score. MVP stuffs a takedown and ends up on top but then they get back to the feet and the second half of the round ends up with Garry threatening, on MVP’s back but still on the feet. A really competitive fight and a shame the striking exchanges didn’t go on for longer. I reckon Garry might have edged it.

MVP has a far better round keeping it standing. He has the speed advantage and lands a few heavy shots, causing Garry to smile which is always a giveaway that something landed well. Garry will surely be looking for a takedown in the third. It’s so finely balanced.

MVP starts by bouncing on his toes as usual but his second kick is caught by Garry and the Englishman is taken down. He finds the back but somehow MVP escapes a choke and spends the rest of the round resisting a submission on his back, fascinating opening and big one for the Irish fighter.

We’ll see if Garry reveals those receipts he claims to have about this – but it certainly adds some extra spice tonight. Did MVP and his team really try and prise info out of the Irishman’s camp?

How can you look so relaxed ahead of a cage fight? Complete confidence and mastery of craft + the ability and love of being a showman. Both of these men have similar mentality, so will youth or experiance triumph?

We spoke to MVP this week ahead of his second fight in the UFC… and he had some words of advice for the England team too.

What a curtain-raiser we have tonight. Many were surprised Garry took the fight with MVP but such is the 26-year-old’s supreme confidence in his ability that he thinks he’ll make a statement and put himself within one of those long arm’s reach of a title shot. Two brilliant strikers, so will they cancel each other out or put on a classic?

Two of the UFC’s craziest fighters top the bill in a rematch that is simply not to be missed. Read our full preview here – the build-up to it has been suitably bonkers with accusations of black magic and even three days in a sensory deprivation room.

Pyfer calls out Paul Craig after this very short night of work and wants the Scot in autumn.

So it’s been confirmed. Dan Ige is stepping in on the latest of late notice to replace sick Ortega to fight Lopes. They both weighed in at 165 and the co-main event is saved. Ige says he is in top shape already and has been waiting his whole life for an opportunity like this. Crazy!

Cub Swanson and Andre Fili just put on a really fun three rounds. Swanson was the man pushing for the finish it seemed but Fili managed to clinch well and shoot for takedowns when his opponent over extended – in the end it’s a bit of a controversial decision with Fili given the nod by split 29-28, 28-29, 29-28.

Missing weight and then missing the fight? That’s a horrendous 24 hours for Ortega if indeed the reports are correct. A real shame too, because T-City against Lopes was a brilliant co-main event. Let’s hope something can be salvaged as that seems to be the name of the game for UFC 303.

Some huge breaking news is that Brian Ortega, who missed weight and rearranged to fight Diego Lopes tonight at 155-pounds, could be out due to illness as per Ariel Helwani – how badass would it be for Ige to just jump in with about five minutes notice!

Jourdain had never been stopped – until tonight. A really impressive win for Jean Silva makes it two finishes out of two on the pre-lims after a decision fest on the early pre-lims, this is much more like it!

Interesting tease from Dan Ige tonight, could we be getting some big news tonight? One we’ll keep an eye on for you.

Pereira is the favourite to dispatch his challenger again but there could be value in tipping him for an early KO.

Wow! Payton Talbott is a name you should mark down for the future and the present. The 25-year-old just took 19 seconds to win by TKO with his first meaningful punch down the pipe against Yannis Ghemmouri.

Four straight decisions on the early pre-lims:

Vinicius Oliveira def. Ricky Simon

Rei Tsuruya def. Carlos Hernandez

Martin Buday def. Andrei Arlovski

Gillian Robertson def. Michelle Waterson

UFC 303 is here and yes, it looks a bit different to what we expected… there’s no big McGregor comeback tonight but the situation has been pretty well salvaged with Pereira vs Prochazka II taking the headline spot. Michael Chandler might find it a tough watch tonight but red panty night will have to be worth waiting a bit longer for, won’t it?