In what has been described as a “disgrace”, UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira made unwanted history on Saturday morning, becoming the first champion in the promotion’s history to be stripped of his belt for missing weight, ahead of his title defence against Justin Gaethje at UFC 274.
Oliveira appeared surprised when he weighed in at 155.5 pounds, which is a half-pound over the limit for his lightweight title fight against the American.
Oliveira was given an additional hour to cut the weight but missed again on his second attempt.
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The costly blunder means Oliveira will now lose a percentage of his purse for the fight and his belt will be vacated. Gaethje can claim the title if victorious on Sunday (AEST).
“Charles Oliveira missed weight for his UFC 274 main event bout against Justin Gaethje on Friday afternoon in Phoenix, weighing in at 155.5 pounds,” the UFC said via a statement.
“Due to the weight miss, Oliveira will forfeit a percentage of his purse. As of this moment, Charles Oliveira remains the UFC Lightweight Champion, but upon the start of the Main Event Headliner tomorrow night he will vacate the 155-pound title.
“The fight will proceed as scheduled, but the championship will only be on the line for Gaethje. If Oliveira wins, he will be the number one contender for the vacant Lightweight Championship and will fight the next challenger for the undisputed title belt at a time and place to be determined.”
Oliveira’s miscue has received a mixed response from the UFC world, with former fighters lambasting the Brazilian, while others coming to his defence, claiming they also experienced problems with the scales.
Ariane Carnelossi, Claudia Gadelha and Casey O’Neill all claimed there were errors with the backstage scale, which resulted in miscalculations and competitors missing weight.
In addition to Oliveira, Norma Dumont tipped the scales a half pound above the featherweight limit, and she elected to take a 30 percent fine instead of trying to cut more water.
Carnelossi, who made weight for her fight against Lupita Godinez, said someone “messed with” the apparatus.
“Congrats to the “genius” that messed with the fighter’s scale leaving it with a 0.5lb difference. We only found out when we were informed as we were coming down to check our official Weight. Luckly [sic] I was under so that didnt hurt me,” she wrote on social media.
Speaking to Brazilian news outlet Combate in Phoenix, Oliveira’s head coach Diego Lima said his fighter was on weight the night before.
“We went to sleep on weight, we checked the weight on the scale the organisation leaves for us downstairs and everything was OK,” Lima said. “When we checked it in the morning, [his weight] was off. We even posted last night that he had made weight because that’s what really happened. You’re witnesses of this, Charles has never missed weight since he moved up to 155. Even when there was no belt [on the line], he was under the limit, he didn’t use the pound allowance.
“If I keep saying it, people will think it’s an excuse, but that’s the truth. We even posted last night he made weight well. He made weight and went to bed.”
Oliveira didn’t address the incident directly after the mishap, rather taking to Instagram in a defiant message shortly after.
“The champion has a name his name is Charles Oliveira let’s go with everything Brazilian nation God is God he never abandoned me and it won’t be now that he goes I am the CHOSEN THE ILLUMINATED,” he posted.
Gaethje, who made weight bang on 155 pounds, wasn’t buying the claims, saying he weighed the same on a different set of scales.
https://twitter.com/aaronbronsteter/status/1522726598788624384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“It’s not my problem, I’m here to fight. I was a little worried though that I wouldn’t have a chance to win the title,” he said.
“There was a little confusion, he can make all the excuses he wants. When you show up at 11 o’clock, shit’s obviously going south. All I was worried about was if I was going to lose my opportunity.”
Gaethje later took to social media to further shut down claims of dodgy scales causing the problem, after Rose Namajunas, Carla Esparza, and he all “made championship weight” for UFC 274.
“Three out of four championship fighters made championship weight,” Gaethje wrote in response to a tweet. “Cut the BS.”
https://twitter.com/Justin_Gaethje/status/1522670480326422533?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/Justin_Gaethje/status/1522671726470987776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Former lightweight UFC fighter turned commentator Paul Felder, labelled the incident a “let down” and “a disgrace”.
“Wonder if he still wants to fight at 145. I have nothing against the champ. But this is a disgrace. And I honestly feel most for Justin. What an absolute let down for everyone in the division,” he wrote on Twitter.
While this is the first time a champion has lost a title due to missing weight, challengers for vacant championships have missed weight in the past, including Anthony Pettis and Yoel Romero, while Travis Lutter and Joe Riggs came in heavy as challengers for undisputed titles.
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