Dan Ige has something bigger and better planned after missing out on the UFC Noche Card at The Sphere. Dana White had promised the featherweight a fight at the UFC Noche event, for his heroics of stepping up on 3 hours’ notice to fight Diego Lopes. As it turns out the UFC president could not live up to the promise and the fans have been making their disappointment known on social media. However, Ige is not bothered by it.
The 32-year-old has a feeling that there are bigger and better things in store for him. However, with White calling the UFC Noche even the biggest event ever, it will be hard for Ige to top that.
He recently tweeted out a message on X regarding all the hate towards White for not keeping his word,
“A lot of people are upset at Dana or upset for me not being on the Sphere card. I know it was a “promise” but I believe there’s something bigger and better in store and I will have another fight this year.”
A lot of people are upset at Dana or upset for me not being on the Sphere card. I know it was a “promise” but I believe there’s something bigger and better in store and I will have another fight this year. Thank you all for the love and support. We’re ending this year on a DUB!
— Dan Ige (@Dynamitedan808) July 27, 2024
From the perspective of the fans, they couldn’t understand why White could not include him in the UFC Noche card. After all, Ige practically saved the UFC 303 card.
Regardless, the 32-year-old has not lost hope. He aims to fight before the end of the year. Besides, it was him who really wanted to fight at UFC 303 and as it happened, things just fell into place.
Ige’s always up for a scrap
Diego Lopes looked to take on Brian Ortega in his UFC 303 co-main event. However, ‘T-City’ had to pull out of the fight due to illness and lo and behold, Ige got the opportunity of a lifetime.
He messaged the UFC executives to let him take Ortega’s place and they were down for it. As it turns out, the 32-year-old has been wanting to do something like that for a while now. He kept asking his trainer to keep an eye out for any of the fighters in his weight class pulling out of a fight.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani, his coach spoke about how excited Ige was,
“He trains like it daily…. He will come to me… there are 4 featherweight fights on this card, and he will say to me, ‘Just in case, look at these guys because if somebody falls out.”
Dan Ige’s coach said that Ige fantasized about an opportunity like that.
“He trains like it daily…. He will come to me… there are 4 featherweight fights on this card, and he will say to me, ‘Just in case, look at these guys because if somebody falls out.'”
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) July 1, 2024
In the end, he got his wish and he put on a strong performance despite coming up on 3 hours notice.
