With one last bit of salesmanship, Chael Sonnen said his final goodbye to the public until he reappears on Saturday night in an attempt to wrest the UFC light-heavyweight championship from Jon Jones at UFC 159.
Sonnen, a historic underdog for the event, to be held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, listed as high as a 7-to-1 underdog on some sports books, comfortably checked in a the divisional limit of 205 pounds before launching into his last bit of P.R.
“Joe, I’m just happy you and everybody could be here to witness this,” he told weigh-in announcer Joe Rogan. “You’re going to tell your kids’ kids’ kids that he was real. He existed. The myth of Chael Sonnen stood before us. He brought down the hometown hero, and when it was all said and done, it was one more in the record books, one more in the win column, and one more for the bad guy.”
Sonnen hasn’t competed in the division since 2005, when he lost to Renato “Babalu” Sobral at UFC 55. He is best known for his middleweight title losses to Anderson Silva, as well as his gift of gab.
Jones took a much more subdued approach to his last moment in the spotlight before fighting.
“I’m here to conquer. I’m here to be courageous. That’s about it,” said the champ, who was also 205 pounds.
The combatants were a bit more collectively animated for the co-main event, where Michael Bisping and Alan Belcher showed just a flash of the animosity they’ve traded up until now, with Bisping yapping and pointing a finger in Belcher’s face, and Belcher lightly pushing him. The exchange seemed to be fairly light-hearted, as Belcher left the stage with a smile on his face.
Bisping (186) weighed in at one pound more than Belcher.
Prelim welterweight fighter Nick Catone was the only fighter to miss weight, coming in at 173, two pounds over the limit. Catone chose not to re-weigh, instead forfeiting 20 percent of his purse.
Yancy Medeiros, Johnny Bedford and Bryan Caraway all needed to weigh in nude behind a towel in order to make weight.
The complete weigh-in results are below.
Main Card
Jon Jones (205) vs. Chael Sonnen (205)
Alan Belcher (185) vs. Michael Bisping (186)
Cheick Kongo (237) vs. Roy Nelson (258)
Phil Davis (205) vs. Vinny Magalhaes (205.5)
Pat Healy (155.5) vs. Jim Miller (155)
Preliminary Card
Rustam Khabilov (156) vs. Yancy Medeiros (155.5)
Ovince St. Preux (206) vs. Gian Villante (206)
Sheila Gaff (133) vs. Sara McMann (134)
Johnny Bedford (136) vs. Bryan Caraway (136)
Leonard Garcia (145) vs. Cody McKenzie (145)
Nick Catone (173) vs. James Head (170.25)
Kurt Holobaugh (145) vs. Steven Siler (145.25)