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Alexa Grasso has released a statement about her weight mishap.
Alexa Grasso tipped the scales for her UFC 246 bout at 121.5 lbs, which is 5.5 lbs off the non-title strawweight limit. With the disparity in weight with her opponent in Claudia Gadelha, the bout was subsequently scrapped from this Saturday’s event.
Grasso has since released a lengthy statement on social media, apologizing for the miss, and stating that she plans to move up in weight for her next contest.
“I want to apologize to Claudia Gadelha and the UFC,” Grasso wrote. “I know this is a fight all were waiting a lot, including me. I trained very much for this and I did everything to lose those pounds.
“The commission did not allow our combat although my opponent and I agreed with the sanction this implied for me. The doctors did not allow me to compete.”
Grasso, who missed weight for a second time in her UFC career, says this latest mishap on the scales isn’t from a “lack of discipline.”
“You don’t know how difficult it has been lately to keep me in this weigh class. It was not a lack of discipline because even if I do not have a fight I’m ALWAYS on diet. I turned 26 and my body is not the same, I am growing and I am in this biological process where my metabolism is changing,” she explained. “I have lived in recent years to the limit of what a body needs to be healthy, and yet I have always fulfilled my obligations.
“Let’s not talk about a flu or if my period is crossed because that added to the diet had made the weigh cuts a real suffering. I never complain or tell these things because I am not that kind of person and I always show you my best attitude.”
The Mexican fighter says she is moving up to flyweight for her next bout, where she can be healthier.
“My team and I have decided that the smartest and healthiest thing to do is to be in other weigh class. With all the respect that it deserves and of course pain in my heart I say goodbye to the strawweight division 115 LB,” Grasso wrote. “This year has a different goal for me and I officially move to Flyweight 125 LB.
“I know that at this weight I will be healthier and stronger giving my body all the nutrients it needs,” she said.
“Thanks to all the people who support me, my Lobo team and my coaches who are with me every day and know that what I do is completely a commitment to my sport and my career. I start a new stage in my life!”
Gadelha also released a statement of her own, expressing disappointment, and stating that she still wanted to fight, but the commission just wouldn’t allow it.