- Charles Oliveira has been stripped of his lightweight title after missing weight for UFC 274
- A controversial video of Khabib Nurmagomedov during weigh-ins has been doing rounds on the internet
History was made on the day of the weigh-ins for UFC 274 when UFC lightweight titleholder Charles Oliveira missed weight. Coming in half a pound over the championship limit of 155 lbs, Oliveira will be forced to vacate his title at the start of his match. Another former lightweight champion who had his own issues with making weight is Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Khabib Nurmagomedov weigh-in controversy
In what turned out to be his retirement fight, Khabib looked visibly debilitated as he stepped on the scales. Having missed weight in the past, the undefeated Russian struggled to make weight for his bout against Justin Gaethje in October 2020. An old video of the 33-year-old has resurfaced following Oliveira’s missed attempts at making weight.
There has been controversy surrounding the official who checked the readings. The scale can be clearly seen continuing to move up when the official declared Khabib to have made the limit.
that moment when khabib has dana white privilege but not charles oliveira pic.twitter.com/OTyKIOSryQ
— 🪬𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗🪬 (@yodalorian9) May 6, 2022
Ariel Helwani was quick to respond with a not-so-subtle reference to Khabib after news broke that Oliveira will be stripped of the UFC gold.
Charles wishes he had this guy manning the scale. Look at that speed! pic.twitter.com/oukFztLLza
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 6, 2022
Helwani specifically pointed out how quickly the official notes the reading as he posted, “Charles wishes he had this guy manning the scale. Look at that speed!”
Khabib, Khamzat & more weigh-in issues
Cutting weight is nothing new to the sport of mixed martial arts. Many athletes find themselves in the risky position of facing a much larger opponent on fight day than the one they encounter during weigh-ins. Due to this, fighters are all but forced to participate in shedding copious amounts of body mass.
UFC has seen its fair share of problems when it comes to weigh-ins. Rising prospect Khamzat Chimaev barely managed to get past a grueling weight cut ahead of his fight with Li Jingliang at UFC 267.
After missing the divisional limit on his first attempt, ‘Borz’ came back in his birthday suit to remove every extra ounce of weight. He was also noted to be holding onto the towel while he was on the scale.
In what’s being referred to as “scale-gate” now, a good chunk of the athletes fighting this weekend complained of improper calibration of the equipment. Oliveira had tweeted that he made weight on the morning of the weigh-ins only to then officially miss the mark by half a pound.
