Reports: Popular combat sports attorney explains implications of Charles Oliveira missing weight at UFC 274
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Charles Oliveira at UFC 274 official weigh ins
Charles Oliveira is going to lose his lightweight belt in the worst possible ways. The Brazilian champ has failed to make weight for his lightweight bout at UFC 274 and will now face severe consequences. However, a combat sports attorney might have just made a case for the fighter to not be stripped of his lightweight gold.
UFC’s 11th lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira will go down as the first-ever champion to lose his belt to a weigh-in scale. In the official weigh-ins that took place yesterday, “Do Bronx” weighed 0.5 pounds over his championship weight. The fighter was one of the very last fighters to climb on the scale and managed to make a weight of 155.5 pounds. UFC has released a statement that suggests upon the commencement of the main event tomorrow, Oliveira will not be the champion.
Erik Magraken a combat sports regulatory lawyer, the co-owner of Inspire Sports Center, earlier today posted a thread of tweets that expose the intricate details of the weigh-ins controversy at UFC 274. Erik, in his series of tweets, exposes the MMA promotion and the Arizona Martial Arts Commission for not conducting proper weigh-ins.
Magraken posted the rule book of Arizona’s governance over combat sports which stated, “A contestant who exceeds his or her contractual weight by more than one pound at the weigh-ins is in breach of his or her contract. At the discretion of the Commission, the contestant may be permitted a second opportunity to make the weight within two hours.”
Erik was quick to point out that though the state commission says the fighter can have two hours for his second try, Oliveira was only given an hour. Charles and his team also raised a concern that the fighter’s initial trial weigh-in backstage was on point which suggests a faulty weigh-in scale. Several other fighters from last night’s weigh-in too bought this to attention on social media.
Related: Charles Oliveira has been stripped of his lightweight title as he misses the weight by half a pound
Justin Gaethje might not be the champ even if he beats Charles Oliveira
Given that Oliveira cannot be the champion of the lightweight division this week even if he wins the fight against Gaethje in the main event at the FootPrint Arena in Arizona. However, Gaethje will be eligible to fight for the title that is now vacant after the weigh-in mishap. Erik has pointed out that according to the commission’s rule, even Justin might not be eligible for the 155-pound belt.
“By the way – There is even an argument that if Gaethje wins he should not be a champ under Arizona rules. It only allows them to green light bouts with ‘variations in weight class’ for ‘non championship fights’” wrote Erik in one of his tweets.
This series of tweets could really turn out to be helpful for the fighter’s career. This is not the first time Oliveira is missing weight but this time the rules might just favor “Do Bronx”. What are your opinions on the whole weigh-ins controversy at UFC 274?
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Prateek Athanur
(2963 Articles Published)