Earlier this morning 24 fighters stepped on the scale at the weigh-in for UFCNorfolk. Two of those fighters misjudged their cut and missed big on the scale.
Grant Dawson missed the featherweight limit of 146 by 3.5 pounds when he weighed in at 149.5 lbs. He will forfeit 30% of his purse to his opponent Darrick Minner.
The main event was in jeopardy because of the 2.5 pound miss on the scale by Deiveson Figueiredo. Initially he was given one extra hour to make the championship limit of 125 pounds. He was unable to make an attempt at cutting anymore therefore he will forfeit 30% of his purse to Benavidez, and if he is fortunate enough to win the contest, he is not eligible to become the flyweight champion only Benavidez can claim the vacant Flyweight belt with a victory.
It truly amazes me in this day and age that a fighter who has championship aspirations continually has problems making weight. The biggest opportunity of a fighter’s life is fighting for a world title, it truly baffles me that there are fighters out there that are so unprofessional and unprepared that they miss opportunities.
What makes it worse is missing weight for a championship fight once will more than likely preclude you from inclusion in another championship fight for a very long time, if ever!
The full UFC on ESPN+ 27 weigh-in results include:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
Joseph Benavidez (124.5) vs. Deiveson Figueiredo (127.5)** – for vacant flyweight title
Zarah Fairn (146) vs. Felicia Spencer (145)
Magomed Ankalaev (204.5) vs. Ion Cutelaba (204.5)
Megan Anderson (145) vs. Norma Dumont (146)
Grant Dawson (149.5)* vs. Darrick Minner (145.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET)
Steve Garcia (155.5) vs. Luis Pena (154.5)
Kyler Phillips (135.5) vs. Gabriel Silva (135.5)
Brendan Allen (185.5) vs. Tom Breese (185)
Serghei Spivac (234) vs. Marcin Tybura (246)
TJ Brown (145.5) vs. Jordan Griffin (145)
Spike Carlyle (145.5) vs. Aalon Cruz (145.5)
Sean Brady (170) vs. Ismail Naurdiev (170)
* Grant Dawson missed featherweight limit by 3.5 pounds.
**Deiveson Figueiredo missed flyweight title limit by 2.5 pounds; Will not be eligible to be the champion if he wins and forfeits 30% of his purse to Joseph Benavidez.
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.