TORONTO – For the final time before the meet in the cage Saturday night, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson came together and squared off at the weigh-ins in Maple Leaf Square in Toronto, Ontario.
Both men made weight. The champ Jones tipped the scale at 204.5 pounds, and the Swedish challenger weighed in exactly the same. Just as the pre-fight hype suggested, Gustafsson was eye-to-eye with Jones in the square of, with Jones’ eyes diverted as per his custom.
When asked by Joe Rogan if the reach and height would be a factor in the fight, Gustafsson downplayed it.
“It’s no factor at all, it’s all going to go down to who’s working the hardest, and I want that belt,” he said.
Jones, who flung his Nike shoes and shirt into the crowd before stepping on the scale, was presented the same question.
“No, I shouldn’t at all,” he said. “Man, I tell you what, this sport is about intelligence and the way you approach this game. I’m so excited to prove that height doesn’t mean that much, and thank you guys all for being here. Thank you for the support. This is going to be our third championship here in Canada, so thank you all.”
In the co-main event, interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao weighed in at 135 pounds on the dot, while challenger Eddie Wineland was a quarter-pound more at 135.25 pounds.
Only one fighter failed to make weight, and that was Ivan Menjivar who came in a pound over the limit (137). He was given an hour to try and lose the extra pound.
UPDATES: Though it was announced that Eddie Wineland’s weight was a quarter-pound over the usual title fight threshold, the Ontario commission says that he actually did make 135 pounds — that his weight was announced wrong. Also, Ivan Menjivar was able to return to the scale within the hour time allotment for a second chance to make weight, and he did. On his second try Menjivar weighed in at 136 pounds.
Complete UFC 165 weigh-in results can be seen below.
Main Card (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Alexander Gustafsson (204.5) vs. Jon Jones (204.5)
Eddie Wineland (135.25) vs. Renan Barao (135)
Matt Mitrione (260.5) vs. Brendan Schaub (237)
Francis Carmont (186) vs. Costa Philippou (186)
Khabib Nurmagomedov (156) vs. Pat Healy (155.75)
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)
Mike Ricci (155.5) vs. Myles Jury (156)
Wilson Reis (135) vs. Ivan Menjivar (137)
Stephen Thompson (170.5) vs. Chris Clements (169.5)
Dustin Kimura (136) vs. Mitch Gagnon (136)
Preliminary Card (Facebook, 6:15 p.m. ET)
Renee Forte (155.5) vs. John Makdessi (155)
Jesse Ronson (155.5) vs. Michel Prazeres (155)
Alex Cacares (136) vs. Roland Delorme (136)
Daniel Omielanczuk (245.5) vs. Nandor Guelmino (230)