UFC 274 took place this past weekend, and it would be an understatement to say the event went off without a hitch.
During the event’s official weigh-ins, then-lightweight champion Charles Oliveira failed to make weight for his scheduled title defence against Justin Gaethje.
Oliveira’s championship was stripped as a result of the miss, and the lightweight category now lacks a champion.
Following the weigh-ins, several fighters on the night defended Oliveira, claiming that the scale was faulty.
For many years, the UFC has used a classic boxing scale, often known as a mechanical scale, however today’s digital scales may be more accurate. However, UFC President Dana White is blaming tampering with the scale rather than the scale itself.
After UFC 274, White stated that the scale is left out overnight and that fighters touching the official scale is what causes inaccuracy at weigh-ins. White is pointing out a potential solution to this situation.
“It’s a nightmare. We were just talking about it in the back there,” White explained. “We have this issue where guys come out and they’ll start checking the scale the night before. And all the Europeans and guys from other parts of the world do kilos. So they all start fuckin’ with the scale to look at kilos and who knows?
“There’s so many moving parts to this beast of a machine that we run every week. We gotta have a security guard in there where the scale is now. It’s something we’re gonna have to do.”
Due to his missed weight, Oliveira’s win at UFC 274 was not for the title but has secured him as the next man to fight for that belt. Who he fights next is unclear at this time.
Oliveira and his staff made the unwise decision to arrive at the weigh-ins five minutes before the scales were supposed to close.
They would have seen the half-pound discrepancy if they had come for the start and stepped on the UFC’s scales at the hotel or backstage at the weigh-ins, and they would have had much more time to solve the problem: two hours before having to step on the scale, plus an extra hour for a second attempt.
They just got one extra hour, yet Oliveira couldn’t lose half a pound in that time. It’s a blunder that might cost “Do Bronx” more than $1 million.
