“Provided by promotion”- Arizona Athletic Commission steps back from taking responsibility for the faulty scale used by the fighters at UFC 274
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A distraught Charles Oliveira looks on at it's announced he missed the Championship Weight
Recently, during the official weigh-in of UFC 274, Charles Oliveira weighed in at 155.5 pounds which is 0.5 pounds above the lightweight limit. After that incident, it was declared that the Brazilian is not eligible to win the lightweight title even if he wins against Gaethje. This makes ‘ Do Bronx’ the first-ever champion in UFC history to be stripped of the title for missing the weight limit.
While talking to ESPN MMA’s reporter Megan Olivi, the fighter explained what happened and how it caused him to miss the weight.
He said: “The champion has a name. His name is Charles Oliveira. And the story is I went up to my room, and I made weight in the UFC scale on Thursday night. Go up to my room. Did not consume anything; no water, no food, no anything. I swear to God, in the name of my daughter, the most sacred thing in my life.
I went to bed, wake up the following day; on the UFC scale, it’s a pound over. I’m looking at it, it’s a kilogram over, actually. I’m one over, and I don’t understand what happened. I mean, we work. We’re professionals. I did not do anything wrong. To me, it just didn’t make sense,” said Oliveira.
Charles Oliveira also pointed out that other than many other athletes from the fight card experienced this problem.
The Arizona Boxing and MMA commission’s statement on UFC 274 weigh-in issue
After that incident took place the MMA community was in shock and everybody wanted answers. The Arizona Boxing and MMA Commission released a statement regarding the whole scenario ahead of UFC 274.
According to them, the official weigh-in scales used by promoters are always checked and calibrated by the commission. They reviewed the scale and it was working perfectly and had no issues. But the weigh-in scales that athletes personally use to see their weight are not checked by the commission. They said:
” Promoters are allowed to use the scale of their choice for official weigh-ins, as long as it has been deemed appropriately calibrated by Arizona Boxing and MMA commission staff. Staff reviewed the official weigh-in scale to ensure proper calibration and found no issues prior to and during the official weigh-in. Any other scales used for any purpose other than official weigh-ins are not calibrated or inspected by commission staff as they are typically provided by the promoter, not the Arizona Boxing and MMA Commission.“
It’s hard to tell who was at fault in this case but in the end, it was a great loss for the reigning champion. On the other hand, Gaethje still has the opportunity to be the new champ if he manages to win the fight at UFC 274. It will be interesting to see what will be the future of the most competitive division in UFC.
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Soumya Ranjan
(2167 Articles Published)