(Video: Zombie Prophet)
Though both events took place under the purview of the California State Athletic Commission, the no-nonsense, military precision of last week’s UFC on FOX weigh-ins was nowhere to be seen at last night’s event. That’s not necessarily a good thing for the fighters , but it’s certainly more entertaining for the rest of us.
Things kicked off with a healthy dose of confusion. Several prelim fighters tipped the scales well over the allotted limit, which Joe Rogan attributed to a discrepancy between the scales backstage and the official one upfront. While there may be some truth to that, most fighters managed to hit their targets on the dot. It was painfully clear that the chick running the show for the CSAC had no clue what she was doing. You know you’re in for a wild ride when someone seeks mathematical and scientific guidance from this guy.
Miguel Torres initially weighed-in at 137 lbs, but was able to drop the extra pound later in the evening. Two other fighters were not so fortunate. Almost-lightweight fighter Shamar Bailey tipped the scales at 158 lbs, but was unsuccessful in his attempts to drop the additional weight in the afforded time. Nick Pace, on the other hand, had conceded defeat and notified the commission of his weight before even making his way to the stage. He weighed-in at 141 lbs, an incredible six pounds over the limit. Both Bailey and Pace will be fined 20% of their purse, and look for Pace to join the ranks of ignoble weigh-in failures.
Though Danny Castillo is likely pleased to be receiving a few more dollars courtesy of Shamar Bailey’s extra mass, he certainly wasn’t dressed like a man hurting for cash. Castillo added a touch of class to the affair with a break-away tuxedo. La-de-da.
Never one to be upstaged in the wardrobe department, Tom Lawlor continued his impressive series of weigh-in homages to MMA figures past and present with a tip of the hat to your favorite trainer/coach/spiritual advisor Steven Seagal, complete with a crane kick to his training partner.
After failing to connect with fans on four consecutive shirt-tosses, Rick Story made a little too much contact with Martin Kampmann. “The Hitman” let him know as much with a quick shove-off before the pair was separated by Dana White.
Full Results: (via MMAJunkie.com)
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)
- Dan Henderson (203) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (205)
- Cung Le (185) vs. Wanderlei Silva (185)
- Brian Bowles (136) vs. Urijah Faber (136)
- Martin Kampmann (170.5) vs. Rick Story (170.5)
- Stephan Bonnar (205) vs. Kyle Kingsbury (205)
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)
- Ryan Bader (205) vs. Jason Brilz (204)
- Michael McDonald (136) vs. Alex Soto (135)
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)
- Tom Lawlor (185) vs. Chris Weidman (185.5)
- Rafael dos Anjos (155.5) vs. Gleison Tibau (155)
- Nick Pace (141)+ vs. Miguel Torres (136)
- Seth Baczynski (171) vs. Matt Brown (171)
- Shamar Bailey (158)+ vs. Danny Castillo (155)
+ – Forfeits 20 percent of his purse for missing weight