Charles Oliveira’s head coach, Chute Boxe trainer, Diego Lima has said that a “messed up” is to blame for his student’s lightweight championship limit weight miss ahead of his scheduled title fight with Justin Gaethje tomorrow at UFC 274.
Charles Oliveira, who headlines tomorrow’s Phoenix, Arizona card – was scheduled to defend his lightweight championship against former interim titleholder, Gaethje, however, the Brazilian missed the lightweight title limit after an additional hour of time to cut weight, tipping the scales at 155.5lbs.
The Sao Paulo native has since been officially stripped of the undisputed lightweight crown as a result of the weight mishap, with Gaethje now the only competitor between the two who is eligible to win lightweight gold in the main event of UFC 274.
UFC have confirmed Charles Oliveira has been officially stripped of the undisputed lightweight title
UFC has since released an official statement regarding Oliveira’s weight miss, detailing how the Brazilian will fight for a vacant title should he defeat Gaethje tomorrow night in the ‘Copper State’.
“Charles Oliveira missed weight for his UFC 274 main event bout against Justin Gaethje on Friday afternoon in Phoenix, weighing in at 155.5 pounds,” The official statement read. “Due to the weight miss, Charles Oliveira will forfeit a percentage of his purse. As of this moment, Charles Oliveira remains the UFC lightweight champion, but upon the start of the main event headliner tomorrow night he will vacate the 155-pound title.”
“The fight will proceed as scheduled, but the championship will only be on the line for Gaethje. If Oliveira wins, he will be the number one contender for the vacant lightweight championship and will fight the next challenger for the undisputed title belt at a time and place to be determined.”
Ariane Carnelossi, a compatriot of Oliveira claimed following the Sao Paulo native’s weight miss, that the hotel scale which had been used by fighters the night before weigh-ins, had been reset and decalibrated overnight, with a UFC official alleged to have reached out with the intention of informing teams that the scale reading was not the same as previously read due to the reset. Multiple fighters and teams alleged that the misreading of the scale varied from half a pound to two full pounds.
Addressing his student’s weight miss, Lima explained how Oliveira had gone to sleep last night on championship weight, after checking on the scale the organization had provided, before waking and checking once again, only to find he was off weight.
“We went to sleep on weight, we checked the weight on the scale the organization leaves for us downstairs and everything was ok,” Diego Lima said during an interview with Brazilian outlet, Combate. When we checked it in the morning (his weight) was off. We even posted last night that he had mad weight because that’s what really happened. You’re witnesses of this, Charles has never missed weight since he moved up to 155. Even when there was no belt (on the line), he was under the limit, he didn’t use the pound allowance.”
“If I keep saying it, people will think it’s an excuse, but that’s the truth,” Diego Lima said. “We even posted last night he made weight well. He made weight and went to bed.” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)