Ortega-Lopes co-main event at UFC 303 moved to lightweight

The UFC 303 co-main event between featherweights Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes won't take place at 145 pounds anymore.

The UFC announced Friday that the bout is moving up to lightweight. Lopes weighed in at 155 pounds after the announcement, and Ortega hit 155 around 40 minutes later.

The decision was made because Ortega wouldn't have been able to make weight after agreeing to face Lopes on short notice, according to MMA reporter Ariel Helwani. The 33-year-old reportedly had already been bulking up to move to lightweight.

Lopes got a call from UFC early in the morning and chose to fight at 155 rather than not step into the Octagon at all, Helwani adds.

Ortega and Lopes are the UFC's No. 3 and No. 14 featherweights, respectively.

Their co-headliner was added to UFC 303 on June 13 after the promotion revamped the card, which was originally scheduled to include a blockbuster fight between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler as the main event. A light heavyweight title rematch between Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka is now the headliner.