The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Oliveira loses title when he fails to make weight
PHOENIX » Eight ounces cost Charles Oliveira 10.5 pounds of gold and potentially a lot more.
The lightweight great became the first UFC champion to lose his title on the scales Friday morning after three failed attempts to weigh in at 155 pounds for his UFC 274 title fight tonight at Footprint Center.
Oliveira’s main-event battle with top-ranked Justin Gaethje is still on, but Oliveira cannot win the vacated title. Gaethje (23-3), the former interim lightweight champion, was the second fighter to weigh in, shortly after 9 a.m. The topranked contender came in at 155 pounds on the nose and is eligible to win the belt.
The UFC said in a release that Oliveira, 32, will forfeit an undisclosed percentage of his purse. Should the Brazilian star win the fight, he will become the No. 1 contender for the vacant title and “fight the next challenger for the undisputed title belt at a time and place to be determined.”
One of the most decorated fighters in UFC history and riding a 10-fight win streak, Oliveira (32-8, 1 NC) was the last fighter to weigh in Friday at the Hyatt Regency in Phoenix. Minutes before the 11 a.m. deadline, he stepped on the scale one pound over at 156.
A modified curtain was quickly brought out and Oliveira weighed in without shorts, but was still a half-pound over.
The champion, who once had issues making weight as a featherweight, had never missed weight as a lightweight and had an hour to lose 8 ounces.
Oliveira returned shortly before the one-hour time limit was up just before noon. Again unclothed behind the curtain, Oliveira stood on the scales with his arms raised. After several seconds, his weight was announced as unchanged at 155.5 pounds.
Featherweight Norma Dumont also missed weight, registering 146.5 pounds on her first attempt. She chose not to try to lose the halfpound and will forfeit 30% of her purse to opponent Macy Chiasson.
After the weigh-ins, strawweight Ariane Carnelossi alleged a scale backstage was not calibrated the same way as the official scale.
No other fighters missed weight, with Gaethje clapping back on the Brazilian’s claim, pointing out his weight was the same backstage as it was on the stage.
Oliveira’s weight miss could tarnish the legacy of what has been a long and illustrious career.
No one has finished more fights in the UFC than Oliveira with 18, and his 15 submission wins are also a UFC record.
Oliveira, who debuted in the UFC as a lightweight in 2010, moved down to featherweight in early 2012. In a span of 10 fights from September 2012 to November 2016, Oliveira failed to make the 146-pound limit four times — a 1-pound grace limit is allowed in non-title fights.
Oliveira moved back up to lightweight in April 2017 and won 11 of 12, making weight every time.
After undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov retired and relinquished the belt in March 2021, Oliveira fought for the vacant lightweight title two months later. Oliveira recorded a second-round knockout of former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler to win the belt at UFC 262 on May 15 in Houston.
Six months later, Oliveira defended his championship for the first time with a third-round submission via rear-naked choke of former interim lightweight titleholder Dustin Poirier at UFC 269 in Las Vegas.