5 UFC fighters who missed weight for title bouts
With just over two months to go before UFC 281, MMA fans were left shocked recently when Alex Pereira, who is set to challenge Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title at the event, revealed that he currently weighs 226lbs with 9.8% body fat.
Alex Pereira is currently 226 pounds with 9.8% body fat.
74 days until #UFC281 https://t.co/Nii5XEVTwE
Can Alex Pereira make weight for his title shot at UFC 281? Only time will tell, but if ‘Poatan’ does miss the 185lbs mark, he won’t be the first fighter to fail to make weight for a title bout.
Over the years, we’ve seen more than one fighter fail to make weight for a title fight in the octagon, rendering their challenge moot and often causing utter chaos for the promotion in the process.
Here are five UFC fighters who missed weight for a title bout.
#5. Travis Lutter vs. Anderson Silva – UFC 67
UFC 67 was subtitled ‘All or Nothing’, but it didn’t take long for some fans to label it ‘All For Nothing'. This was following the event’s controversial weigh-in, which saw Travis Lutter miss weight for his middleweight title shot against Anderson Silva.
Lutter’s title shot was already a point of contention with some observers, as he’d gained it by winning the middleweight bracket on TUF 4, leapfrogging more highly ranked contenders like Nate Marquardt and Mike Swick in the process.
However, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace did seem like an interesting match for ’The Spider' until, of course, he managed to weigh in at 187lbs, two pounds over the 185lbs middleweight limit.
More to the point, with a shaved head and a clammy-looking complexion, Lutter appeared to be downright unhealthy on the scale, looking more like a man fighting a serious illness than a professional athlete who was about to compete for a world title.
In the end, the fight went ahead as a non-title bout, essentially rendering TUF 4 pointless. While he did well against Silva in the early going, Lutter succumbed to a second round triangle choke and was forced to submit.
UFC 67 was 10 years ago today. I fought Anderson Silvia in the main event that night. Seems like a life time ago. https://t.co/7XYlqMpnv3
Unsurprisingly, he fought just once more inside the octagon, losing to Rich Franklin via TKO before being released by the promotion in mid-2008.
#4. Joe Riggs vs. Matt Hughes – UFC 56
In the mid-2000’s, while he wasn’t an MMA coach per say, Billy Rush quickly became one of the most talked-about people in the UFC thanks to his apparent ability to help fighters cut tremendous amounts of weight.
Nicknamed ‘The Mad Scientist’, Rush was credited by the likes of Tim Sylvia and Jeremy Horn for helping them get into the best shape of their careers. But his biggest success was undoubtedly Joe Riggs.
Once a hulking heavyweight who had earned the nickname ‘Diesel’, Riggs had debuted in the octagon in 2004 as a middleweight. Under the guidance of Rush, he had managed to drop to 170lbs, and in October 2005, he debuted in his new weight class with a win over Chris Lytle.
Unsurprisingly, fans were excited about his future as a welterweight – but few expected him to be offered a title shot just six weeks after his debut in the division.
Riggs was pegged as the replacement for Karo Parisyan, who tore his hamstring while training for his title shot against longtime champion Matt Hughes. Despite the late notice, it made sense for him to capitalise on the huge opportunity and step in.
Unfortunately, six weeks apparently weren't enough for Rush to work his magic – and ‘Diesel’ came into the weigh-ins at 172.5lbs, missing the welterweight limit by 2.5lbs.
Was Joe Riggs vs Matt Hughes the first time a title fight in UFC history had someone miss weight?
Doing my best to research, but not finding anything to suggest anyone did. Doesn't sound right to me. A lot of those old events were just on bathroom scales pre-regulation though.
The bout was instantly changed into a non-title affair, and a clearly-depleted Riggs was easily dispatched by Hughes with a first-round kimura.
Following the event, Rush was barely mentioned by the promotion again, despite the fact that the late-notice fight turned out to be the only time that Riggs ever missed weight for a bout in the octagon.
#3. Yoel Romero vs. Robert Whittaker – UFC 225
When Yoel Romero missed weight for his interim middleweight title bout with Luke Rockhold at UFC 221, coming in at 187.7lbs rather than the 185lbs limit, it didn’t end up mattering all that much.
‘The Soldier of God’ knocked out Rockhold in the third round of the clash. While he didn’t claim gold for his troubles, he was still rewarded with a shot at Robert Whittaker’s undisputed title four months later.
However, to the shock of basically everyone, when it came to the weigh-in, Romero somehow managed to miss the mark again. Initially coming in at 186lbs, he was able to cut down to 185.2lbs, but was unable to go any further – forcing the clash to be changed into a non-title fight.
Quite how Romero, who had never failed to make weight before, managed to miss the mark for two straight title fights was anyone’s guess. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t quite pay off on the second occasion.
Despite putting up a tremendous fight, the Cuban came up short against ‘The Reaper’, losing a tight split decision and likely leaving the UFC relieved that they didn’t need to mess around with the title picture.
One of the fights of the year 🙌
Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero go to war in a five-round epic at #UFC225
Both men warriors. Robert Whittaker the winner 💪 https://t.co/FD6o0xnmHm
Romero would eventually make weight for a title shot when he fought Israel Adesanya in 2020, but after falling to defeat again, he departed the promotion later that year. To date, he remains the only fighter to miss weight for more than one title bout in the octagon.
#2. Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Joseph Benavidez – UFC Fight Night 169
Prior to 2020, whenever a UFC fighter had missed weight for a title shot, it hadn’t mattered in the bigger picture because – Yoel Romero in an interim title bout aside – they’d all fallen to defeat.
That changed, though, when Deiveson Figueiredo defeated Joseph Benavidez in Norfolk, Virginia, in the headline bout at one of the final events before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Their fight had been intended to be for the UFC flyweight title vacated by Henry Cejudo, but when Figueiredo came into the weigh-in at 127.5lbs – 2.5lbs over the 125lbs limit – that changed. Benavidez, who made weight, was still eligible to win the title, but ‘The God of War’ was not.
Incredibly, further controversy occurred in the fight itself. After a back-and-forth first round, the second saw the two fighters clash heads, and Benavidez came away the worst for it.
A huge cut opened on his forehead, and he appeared to be stunned – allowing Figueiredo to swarm him with a combination, knocking him down with a right hand and finishing him off moments later.
Deiveson Figueiredo finished Joseph Benavidez in the second round at #UFCNorfolk https://t.co/km8IIjsjeb
The win was impressive, but was naturally marred due to the head clash as well as the bad weight miss. Thankfully, while the title was held up following the bout, the UFC booked an instant rematch five months later – and ‘The God of War’ made weight successfully to finally claim gold.
#1. Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje – UFC 274
The most recent case of a fighter missing weight for a UFC title bout was a unique one, as it was the first time in the promotion’s history that a reigning champion had failed to hit their mark.
The champion in question was then-lightweight kingpin Charles Oliveira, who came in at 155.5lbs, half-a-pound over the lightweight limit, for his title defense against Justin Gaethje at UFC 274.
The incident resulted in ‘Do Bronx’ being stripped of his title prior to the bout, and while the fight remained for the title, only Gaethje was eligible to win it.
Strangely, though, UFC President Dana White didn’t seem overly angry with Oliveira’s weight miss. Instead, he appeared to confirm something that a number of the fighters competing at the event had already claimed – that the scale being used to check weight prior to the official weigh-ins was inaccurate.
Regardless, while White labeled the incident a “nightmare,” he was unable to hand Oliveira his title back – even when ‘Do Bronx’ dropped and choked Gaethje out in one of his most impressive performances to date.
Charles Oliveira taps out Justin Gaethje in the first round and takes his win streak to 11 in a row! 🙌
#UFC274 https://t.co/8lKjzylY8p
Oliveira is currently scheduled to face Islam Makhachev for the now-vacant title at UFC 280 next month – and he’ll surely hope to make weight more comfortably for the bout.
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