The number one job for a UFC fighter isn’t stepping in the octagon on fight night, but rather it’s stepping on the scale as a professional on weigh-in day. Show up on time, and show up on weight! Anything less is completely unprofessional, and an insult to the promotion, the fans, and of course your opponent!
Today we saw something we haven’t seen in quite some time as 4 fighters stepped on the scale, and those 4 fighters did not do their job, plain and simple as they all missed weight
Out of the four that missed 1 seemingly went ham or ate ham, and lots of it prior to stepping on the scale this morning at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas!
Ketlen Vieira (138) missed by 2 pounds for her bantamweight clash with Yana Kunitskaya, and Drako Rodriguez (140.5) came in 4.5 pounds over the bantamweight limit of 136 for his bout with Aiemann Zahabi. Jared Gordon (150) missed by 4 pounds for his featherweight fight vs Daniel Chavez. Then there was Rafael Alves who looked at the other 3 and said hold my beer!
Alves who was scheduled to face Pat Sabitini in a featherweight attraction tipped the scale at 157.5 pounds! He not only missed the featherweight limit of 146, and he also would have missed the lightweight limit of 156 pounds! Something I can’t recall happening ever for a UFC weigh-in. Not saying it hasn’t happened, but if it has, I don’t remember it. This may just be the worst miss I have ever witnessed for a UFC fighter!
There is no excuse for missing weight! Whether it is .5 or 11.5 pounds, the job is to make the mark! Rafael Alves either didn’t cut at all, or he and his team completely mismanaged his weight cut, either version of how we ended up here is something that the team, and possibly the promotion needs to look into. Alves was pulled from the card as of this posting, citing weight cutting issues as the cause!
Vieira, Gordon, and Rodriguez will all be fined by the NAC for their missed weights, assuming it will be between 20 and 30% of their fight purses.
Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis, who share the top of the bill as the main event made weight with no issue, as did 24 other “professionals” on the card.
UFC Fight Night 185 will air exclusively on ESPN+ with the prelims starting at 5:00 pm eastern time and will continue to the main card starting at 8:00 pm on the east coast.
Main Card (ESPN+, 8:00 p.m. ET)
Curtis Blaydes vs. Derrick Lewis (263)
Ketlen Vieira (138)* vs. Yana Kunitskaya (135.5)
Charles Rosa (146) vs. Darrick Minner (146)
Aleksei Oleinik (240) vs. Chris Daukaus (234)
Phil Hawes (185) vs. Nassourdine Imavov (185.5)
Andrei Arlovski (249.5) vs. Tom Aspinall (244.5)
Preliminary Card (ESPN+, 5:00 p.m. ET)
Jared Gordon (150)* vs. Daniel Chavez (145)
Drakkar Klose (156) vs. Luis Pena (155.5)
Eddie Wineland (135.5) vs. John Castaneda (136)
Nate Landwehr (146)vs. Julian Erosa (145.5)
Rafael Alves (157.5)* vs. Pat Sabatini (145.5)
Shana Dobson (126) vs. Casey O’Neill (125.5)
Chas Skelly (146) vs. Jamall Emmers (145.5)
Aiemann Zahabi (136) vs. Drako Rodriguez (140.5)*
Serghei Spivac (245) vs. Jared Vanderaa (265)
*missed weight
Christopher James has been in the MMA industry for 15 years, Working as a ring announcer for promotions like the XFC, Island Fights, Combat Night and Fight Nights Global during his career. Chris’ love for the sport and the athletes that partake in it led him to writing and doing face to face interviews with the athletes he admired and respected. Chris isn’t conventional by any stretch of the imagination, he has his own style, and takes pride in not being a “cookie-cutter” member of the media. Unique and sometimes controversial takes are what he brings to the table, forcing folks to think a little differently about the world of MMA. He also has a love for music as he has been a dj for 25 years and his love for music gets brought to the MMA world when he gets his guests to sing on his weekly show Cage Side with Christopher James which can be seen Wednesday nights on FACEBOOK LIVE, and soon via podcast.