Check out what happened on the scales ahead of UFC 281.
UPDATE: Alex Pereira has made weight with moments to spare.
The UFC will be center stage this weekend at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden. Under those bright lights, the Octagon will play host to two title fights — with Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira and Carla Esparza vs. Zhang Weili.
In addition to those very important contests, there’s some fun stuff scheduled around the rest of the card. Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler should serve up plenty of violence on the pay-per-view. The prelims have Erin Blanchfield, who could make some noise at flyweight, taking on the always fun Molly McCann. And the early prelims have the undefeated Ottman ‘don’t ask me what’s in my mum’s purse’ Azaitar fighting Matt Frevola.
But of course, before any of these fights can happen, all the competitors must step upon the dreaded scale. With two title fights, four fighters will need to be extra careful (and send pleasing prayers to the MMA gods) to prevent the card from any last minute shuffles.
You can watch to see what happens on those scales live, right here! Check the stream below—courtesy of our friends at MMA Fighting. It goes live at 9 a.m. ET.
Main card (10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV):
UFC middleweight championship: Israel Adesanya (185) vs. Alex Pereira (184.6)
UFC strawweight championship: Carla Esparza (114.6) vs. Zhang Weili (114.8)
Lightweight: Dustin Poirier (156) vs. Michael Chandler (155.8)
Bantamweight: Frankie Edgar (135.6) vs. Chris Gutierrez (136)
Lightweight: Dan Hooker (155.8) vs. Claudio Puelles (155.2)
Prelims (8 p.m. ET on ESPNN/ESPN+)
Lightweight: Brad Riddell (155.6) vs. Renato Moicano (155.8)
Light heavyweight: Dominick Reyes (205.4) vs. Ryan Spann (206.6)*
Flyweight: Erin Blanchfield (125) vs. Molly McCann (125.4)
Middleweight: Andre Petrovski vs. Wellington Turman (185.2)
Early prelims (6 p.m. ET on ESPN+)
Lightweight: Matt Frevola (154.8) vs. Ottman Azaitar (155.6)
Strawweight: Karolina Kowalkiewicz (115.6) vs. Silvana Gomez Juarez (115.6)
Featherweight: Michael Trizano (147.6)** vs. Seung Woo Choi (145.6)
Bantamweight: Julio Arce (135.8) vs. Montel Jackson (135.8)
Light heavyweight: Carlos Ulberg (205.2) vs. Nicolae Negumereanu (206)
*Ryan Spann misses weight by .6 lbs.
**Mike Trizano misses weight by by 1.6 lbs.