The Brazilian lightweight champion Charles Oliveira has been stripped of his UFC title ahead of the UFC 274 main event clash against Justin Gaethje. At the UFC 274 weigh-ins the Brazilian-born fighter “Do Bronx” Oliveira first weighed in 155.5 lbs. This was a half-pound over the championship limit. He was given an additional hour to make weight, and on his second attempt, he came in at the same weight of 155.5 lbs.
It was then later announced that Charles Oliveira has officially been stripped of his UFC lightweight championship title. He will still be able to fight in the UFC 274 main event but will not be able to leave as a champion if he should win. His US-born opponent Justin Gaethje will still be eligible to be a UFC champion if he is victorious in the main event clash.
Charles Oliveira Stripped of UFC Championship
Norma Dumont has also missed weight by 0.5 lbs in her fight against Macy Chiasson. Due to this Dumon will have to forfeit thirty percent of her earnings as a penalty. This was a women’s featherweight bout at 145 lbs. Only Dumont and Oliveira missed weight on this UFC fight card.
Some fighters have speculated that the scales fighters were preparing to make weight with may have been inaccurate. Brazilian UFC fighter Claudia Gadelha wrote on Twitter, in a since deleted Tweet, “Congratulations to the dumb fuck that messed up the scale for weigh ins this am. Now we got a real problem.” MMA journalist Guilherme Cruz wrote on Twitter, “Norma Dumont and Ariane Carnelossi told me the hotel scale was reset overnight and many fighters found out on Friday morning they were 2lbs heavier than they thought. Don’t know if that was the case with Charles Oliveira, whose coach posted last night he had already made weight.”
Oliveira’s opponent Gaethje had no issue making the 155 championship weight limit. Oliveira earned his UFC title when he knocked out Michael Chandler. He later defended his title against Dustin Poirier, winning this fight via submission. Gaethje is a one-time UFC lightweight interim champion, a title he earned by defeating Tony Ferguson. Gaethje lost his title unification bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov. UFC 274 is Gaethje’s second chance at UFC gold.
Charles Oliveira came in at 155.5 pounds on the second attempt, missing weight for his lightweight title defense at #UFC274
Oliveira has been stripped of the title and only Justin Gaethje will be eligible to win the championship on Saturday night. pic.twitter.com/VYV9KK322H
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) May 6, 2022
UFC 274 Weigh-In Results
Rose Namajunas versus Carla Esparza 2, in the UFC 274 co-main even is ready to go as both fighters successfully made weight. Namajunas is a two-time UFC strawweight champion and will be defending on Saturday night and trying to avenge an earlier career loss. In 2014 Esparza and Namajunas fought for the inaugural UFC strawweight title in which the former Invicta champion walked away from this bout the victor. Now, Namajunas has defeated former champions Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Jéssica Andrade, and Zhang Weili. Esparza is now on a five-fight win streak and will be looking to repeat her original success against Namajunas.
UFC 274 Weigh-Ins
Charles Oliveira 155.5 vs. Justin Gaethje 155
Rose Namajunas 115 vs. Carla Esparza 115
Michael Chandler 156 vs. Tony Ferguson 155.5
Mauricio Rua 205.5 vs. Ovince Saint Preux 205
Donald Cerrone 155.5 vs. Joe Lauzon 155.5
Andre Fialho 170.5 vs. Cameron VanCamp 170
Randy Brown 170.5 vs. Khaos Williams 170
Macy Chiasson 145.5 vs. Norma Dumont 146.5
Brandon Royval 125.5 vs. Matt Schnell 125.5
Blagoy Ivanov 253.5 vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima 258.5
Francisco Trinaldo 170.5 vs. Danny Roberts 170.5
Tracy Cortez 125.5 vs. Melissa Gatto 125
Kleydson Rodrigues 125.5 vs. CJ Vergara 126
Ariane Carnelossi 115.5 vs. Lupita Godinez 115
Journey Newson 135.5 vs. Fernie Garcia 135.5
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