UFC 333 Fighter Faces Major Purse Cut After Weighing In 4.5 Pounds Over

With only one day left before UFC 333, the weigh-ins in Abu Dhabi ran smoothly for almost the entire card.

Both championship fights are officially locked in. Alexander Volkanovski and Movsar Evloev hit their targets for the featherweight title fight, while Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili both made weight for their bantamweight championship bout. All four champions and challengers hit their marks on the scale.

In total, 27 of the 28 fighters made their contracted weight for Saturday's card at Etihad Arena. The lone exception came on the preliminary card, where one female fighter missed by a wide margin. The costly mistake adds massive pressure to a fight that already carries heavy stakes for her future in the promotion.

Nicolle Caliari Forfeits 30 Percent of Purse After Missing Weight Against Iasmin Lucindo

Nicolle Caliari weighed 120.5 pounds for her strawweight preliminary fight against Iasmin Lucindo, who successfully hit 115 pounds. That put Caliari 4.5 pounds over the 116-pound non-title limit.

As a result, the UFC fined her 30 percent of her fight purse, a penalty that will go directly to Lucindo. The official MMA Junkie weigh-in report flagged the mistake, penning, "Caliari missed strawweight limit by 4.5 pounds; fined 30 percent of purse."

It was the only problem on an otherwise perfect morning for the nine-fight preliminary card. Weight issues have bothered Caliari before, but never to this extreme. She previously missed weight by just 0.2 pounds at Invicta FC 37 in 2019, which resulted in a 25 percent fine. This latest miss is over 22 times larger than her previous infraction, adding a major setback to her preparation.

While a 4.5-pound miss is severe for a strawweight, the UFC frequently deals with fighters missing weight. Over the years, heavy misses have routinely triggered a 30 percent purse deduction or forced officials to change the bout rules. For instance, Ariane Lipski missed the flyweight limit by 6 pounds and lost 30 percent of her purse, while Yoel Romero forfeited 30 percent of his money for missing weight before a title fight.

In more extreme cases, like Kelvin Gastelum missing by 10 pounds or Rafael Alves missing by 11.5 pounds, the financial penalties were bypassed entirely because the athletic commissions canceled the bouts outright due to health hazards. 

However, for Caliari, Lucindo accepted the new catchweight terms, which kept the fight on the card.

Nicolle Caliari Faces Career Crossroads 

Caliari, 29, has a 9-4 record overall and is 1-2 in the UFC. Carli Judice stopped her at UFC 318 in July, 2025, which gave Caliari a two-fight losing streak after an earlier loss to Ernesta Kareckaite. Caliari broke that losing streak on May 16, when she returned to the strawweight division and submitted Shauna Bannon with a third-round arm-triangle choke.

Her opponent, the 24-year-old Lucindo, is a favorite and carries an 18-6 record. Caliari's mistake hands Lucindo a financial advantage because the 30 percent purse fine goes directly into Lucindo's paycheck.

The stakes are pretty clear for the 29-year-old. Another loss will drop her UFC record to 1-3 and could cost her her spot on the roster. A win keeps her in the division and helps recover the money lost from the fine. The fight is on the UFC 333 card on Saturday, with the prelims starting at 10 a.m. ET on Paramount+.