William Knight etches his name in history books as he comes in way over 205-lbs weight limit, turns fight into heavyweight bout
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William Knight
For William Knight, the weight cut has defeated him badly. Knight who’s fighting the first fight of the entire card of UFC 271 was originally scheduled for a light-heavyweight against Maxim Grishin, a 40+ fight veteran who was in into his fourth UFC fight. Knight on the other hand is 11-2 in his overall MMA career with a record of 4-1 in UFC.
Starting from Dana White’s Contender Series back in September 2020, Knight delivered a spectacular first-round knockout out of Cody Brundage in order to impress UFC President Dana White and secure a fight contract. Now, it’s a seriously bad mark on his career to have missed weight to such a large extent in his sixth UFC bout.
How much did William Knight missed weight by and what are the repurcussions
The weight to make in order to qualify for a light-heavyweight bout is 204-206 pounds. 205 lbs are considered as the championship weight. During the official weigh-ins, Knight tipped the scales by 218 pounds, weighing an extraordinarily 12 pounds heavier. This is possibly one of the worst debacles in UFC’s history in regards to weight cutting.
Consequences of this include getting fined 40% of his fight purse and hence, that amount going to his opponent Grishin. Over that, the fight has been shifted to be a heavyweight bout now. Knight took to his Instagram to make a statement following a terrible weight cutting.
He wrote in the caption: “I tried my best on short notice definitely not the kinda fighter I am and it definitely won’t happen again…. crazy I turn into the bad guy trying to save a fight on short notice….. im happy the real snakes have shed their skin today ill remember this moving forward for sure…. God has blessed me with this as a lesson and I’ll definitely make sure I do better next time…. fight is still on tommrow at 8pm its now a heavyweight fight.”
Sean Strickland gives out madly outrageous tweet for William Knight’s weigh-in chaos
Meanwhile, UFC Middleweight Sean Strickland, who’s coming off from the biggest win of his career against Jack Hermansson, made sure he serves his purpose as a crazy internet troll for the fans, and especially for Knight for missing weight.
Strickland basically wrote on Twitter: “William knight is the absolute worst fighter I’ve ever seen in the ufc since ufc 1 BUT that being said!! I absolutely love watching this man fight. I find your lack of skill glorious.. Come train with me and we will help you suck less lol! @Actionman513“
What do you make of this whole weight cutting situation? Should fighters be put into compulsion by the concerned authorities to fight in their natural weight and therefore don’t cut the water in their bodies if they can’t? Or do you think it’s just a one-off thing since Knight was fighting on short notice?
Ever since ONE Championship lost one of their Atomweight fighters a few years ago, they made sure all fighters fought in their natural weight and passed hydration tests a night before the fight night to confirm a decent amount of water in the athlete’s body. at UFC 271, who do you think wins the fight between Knight and Grishin? At the main event, a UFC title fight takes place at the middleweight division in the form of a rematch between the reigning champion Israel Adesanya and Preceding champion Robert Whittaker.
Also Read: UFC 271: Derek Brunson vs Jared Cannonier predictions, odds and fight preview
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Abhai Singh Tanwar
(1386 Articles Published)