What is the UFC heavyweight limit and has anyone missed weight before?
The UFC heavyweight division is the land of the giants - which is confirmed when you learn that the weight limit to compete there is 265lbs.
That number is used for title fights, with non-title fighters being able to weigh-in at 266lbs if an extra pound is required. Of course, very few heavyweights have to cut down to 266lbs in order to make the fight. Most heavyweights enjoy the freedom of knowing they can come in at anything upwards of 205lbs.
Has any UFC fighter ever missed weight at heavyweight?
These monsters certainly know how to make an impact inside the cage and even during weigh-ins. It quickly becomes clear that these gentlemen are in a league of their own.
However, that doesn’t mean we haven’t come close to disaster before, with one fighter failing to make weight at heavyweight before eventually getting underneath the limit an hour later.
That man is the one and only Greg Hardy.
Hardy, who holds a 7-3 (1) professional mixed martial arts record, weighed in at 266.5lbs for his fight against Maurice Greene back at the end of October. It followed a trend of him doing things a little unconventionally in the UFC. He did, however, manage to get under the weight limit after being given extra time to cut down.
Outside of that, most heavyweights have managed to hit the mark, as was the case when Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou weighed in yesterday.
The two men are set to clash for the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 260 tonight with Miocic defending his belt for the second time against Ngannou. It will be three years on from their first meeting at UFC 220 where Stipe won decisively.
Miocic came in at a trimmed-down 234lbs on Friday, while Ngannou weighed in at 263lbs - the exact same as when the two fought the first time around.
Nobody quite knows what’s going to happen to the future of weight classes in the UFC. As time goes on, the idea of a super heavyweight division will likely be floated around.