Charles Oliveira may have officially made weight (results HERE) for his lightweight clash with Arman Tsarukyan tomorrow night (Sat., April 13, 2024) at UFC 300 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, but it wasn’t done without concern.
Oliveira, who is hoping to lock down another UFC lightweight title shot with a win this weekend in “Sin City,” has never had the easiest of weight cuts throughout his career. There is usually a photo that leaks of his team fanning him with towels or him just narrowly hitting the lightweight benchwork when it’s time to step on the scale, but this week seemed to be a little tougher for “Do Bronx.”
On Friday, UFC analyst Chael Sonnen reported that he had inside information regarding Oliveira’s weight cut for UFC 300. According to Sonnen, Oliveira’s team was worried about him cutting enough weight in time for Saturday’s official weigh ins. Remember, Oliveira’s bout with Tsarukyan this weekend is pegged as a No. 1 contender’s fight so it’s important that both fighters prove they can hit championship weight.
“I will offer you this one thing, little piece of inside baseball, we’ll see how it works out,” Sonnen said. “Right now with team Oliveira, their biggest concern is not Saturday. They’ve got one opponent first and this opponent’s beaten them before, several times, and that is the scale.
“Right now they are getting some weight off and they are a little bit worried about their athlete,” he continued. “It’s a very big deal. This is arguably a number one contendership fight, and just to remind you, Dana White will not allow you to fight for the title next off of previously missing the weight class. So, it could have some implications.”
Luckily, Oliveira was eventually able to cut enough weight off to hit the 156-pound mark for Saturday’s official weigh ins. It wasn’t an easy feat, though, as video footage surfaced early Saturday showing Oliveira’s team desperately trying to cut additional weight off in the sauna. Oliveira can be seen keeled over and looked to be completely drained. It’s never an easy thing to see, but at least his efforts paid off in the long run.
Check out the footage below and let us know if you think this difficult weight cut will change the way Oliveira competes at UFC 300!
Charles Oliveira helping him make weight for #UFC300 https://t.co/yNCr2tWOhI
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) April 12, 2024
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 300 fight card right RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the UFC 300 PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 300: “Pereira vs. Hill” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive UFC 300 event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 300 fight card and PPV lineup click here.