That’s a lot of weight.
It’s been over two years since the UFC’s last card in California, which means it’s been a good while since we’ve gotten data on the fight night weights for fighters.
As part of its efforts to curb excessive weight cutting, the California State Athletic Commission keeps track of fighters’ weight differentials from weigh-in day to fight night itself. When a fighter’s fight night weight exceeds more than 10% of their weigh-in weight, the commission typically recommends that fighter move up a division the next time they compete in California.
For UFC 270, exactly half of the 22 fighters who competed exceeded that 10% threshold. Among them is Deiveson Figueiredo, who recaptured the UFC men’s flyweight title with a thrilling win over Brandon Moreno. Figueiredo, who’s missed weight for a title fight before, gained 19.2 lbs after the weigh-ins, which put him at a percentage gain of 15.5%.
The highest weight gain percentage came from bantamweight Cody Stamann, who ballooned up to 159 lbs (a 17.3% gain) for his eventual first-round loss to Said Nurmagomedov.
Perhaps also of note is Ciryl Gane dropped a couple of pounds, making him the only fighter to lose weight between Friday and Saturday.
By the way, this is the 5th UFC show in California since fight night weight tracking was implemented. Here’s the running tally:
UFC 227: 18/24
UFC 232: 4/26
UFC Sacramento: 13/24
UFC 241: 13/24
UFC 270: 11/22
Overall: 59/120
Here’s the full list of fight night weights: (formatting via MMA Fighting)
Main Card
Francis Ngannou (257 pounds to 260.4 pounds = 3.4%) vs. Ciryl Gane (247 pounds to 245 pounds = -0.8%)
Brandon Moreno (124 pounds to 136.2 pounds = 9.8%) vs. Deiveson Figueiredo (124 pounds to 143.2 pounds = 15.5%)
Michel Pereira (170 pounds to 184 pounds = 8.2%) vs. Andre Fialho (169.5 pounds to 179.6 pounds = 6%)
Cody Stamann (135.5 pounds to 159 pounds = 17.3%) vs. Said Nurmagomedov (136 pounds to 148.8 pounds = 9.4%)
Michael Morales (170 pounds to 190.4 pounds = 12%) vs. Trevin Giles (170 pounds to 182.2 pounds = 10.7%)
Preliminary Card
Raoni Barcelos (135 pounds to 150.6 pounds = 11.6%) vs. Victor Henry (135.5 pounds to 148.5 pounds = 9.6%)
Jack Della Maddalena (170.5 pounds to 189 pounds = 10.9%) vs. Pete Rodriguez (170.5 pounds to 189.6 pounds = 11.2%)
Tony Gravely (135.5 pounds to 148.8 pounds = 9.8%) vs. Saimon Oliveira (136 pounds to 157.8 pounds = 16%)
Matt Frevola (154.5 pounds to 175 pounds = 13.3%) vs. Genaro Valdez (155 pounds to 167 pounds = 7.4%)
Silvana Gomez Juarez (115.5 pounds to 132.2 pounds = 14.5%) vs. Vanessa Demopoulos (115.5 pounds to 128.5 pounds = 11.3%)
Kay Hansen (125 pounds to 133.2 pounds = 6.6%) vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius (125 pounds to 136.8 pounds = 9.4%)