Matt Schnell was willing to do just about anything to make a successful weight cut for his flyweight bout tomorrow night (Sat., Dec. 3, 2022) at UFC Orlando live on ESPN/ESPN+ from inside Amway Center in Orlando, Fla., and that included shaving his head during Friday’s official weigh ins.
Schnell, who will fight flyweight contender Matheus Nicolau on the ESPN main card of UFC Orlando, tipped the scales a half pound over the flyweight limit on Friday. The veteran fighter was allotted extra time to shed the final ounces, but Schnell took a different path to victory on the scale. The 32-year-old fighter decided to shave his head and stepped back on the scale to meet the 126-pound flyweight limit.
Check out Schnell’s before and after photos below:
Matt Schnell really shaved his head to make weight. ???#UFCOrlando #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/DLGE6y2kNb
— The MMA Media (@The_MMA_Media) December 2, 2022
While it would have been nice to see Schnell come in on weight his first time on the scale it’s a breath of fresh air to see a fighter exhaust all limits to make weight. Time and time again we see fighters narrowly miss weight and refuse to go the extra step such as shaving their head. Schnell didn’t bat an eye and that’s why he’s one of the more entertaining fighters competing this weekend in Orlando.
Schnell, 32, is coming off a memorable submission win over Su Mudaerji at UFC on ABC 3 this past July. That victory ended a two-fight winless streak for “Danger” and put him back on track at 125 pounds. If Schnell is able to steal a win from Nicolau tomorrow night at UFC Orlando he may push his way towards the top 5 early into next year.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Orlando fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 7 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN/ESPN+ main card start time at 10 p.m. ET.