UFC officials held UFC 226 weigh-ins on Friday morning with all the fighters made weight successfully but lightweight contender Michael Chiesa missed weight for a fight against Anthony Pettis and immediately announced he would no longer be competing in the lightweight division.
Chiesa took to scale but came in at 157.5, which is a 1.5 pounds overweight for his scheduled 155-pound fight against Pettis (20-7 MMA, 7-6 UFC). “The Maverick,” said his time at 155 pounds, where he has fought the entirety of his UFC tenure, is officially over and will look to go for the welterweight division.
#UFC226 weigh-in results: @MikeMav22 Chiesa – (157.5) https://t.co/Rpr0unavkL
*Chiesa missed weight by 1.5 pounds, says his final fight at 155 “It’s a wrap.” pic.twitter.com/M0yno2Xx7H
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) July 6, 2018
UFc officials said right away that he would not re-attempt to cut more weight and thus, he will forfeit 30% of his purse to Pettis as a result as per ESPN.
After much negotiating, Chiesa, Pettis is on, per UFC officials. Chiesa will forfeit 30 percent of his purse for missing weight.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) July 6, 2018
Both fighters were slated to fight each other at the UFC 223 pay-per-view event back in April in Brooklyn, NY. Due to Conor Mcgregor’s bus rampage, Chiesa got Chiesa suffered facial lacerations and the reason bout got scratched off.
Chiesa is coming off a submission loss to Kevin Lee this past June, which ended up snapping a three-fight win streak.
Pettis last fought against Dustin Poirier on November 11, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 120 but lost the bout after tapping out due to a broken rib in the third round.
