Drama builds for loaded UFC 316 card as one fighter misses weight by shocking amount
The only thing separating us from two scintillating title fights at UFC 316 in Newark is time.
All main card fighters successfully made weight Friday morning, with Kayla Harrison making the contracted cut-off of 135 pounds for her title fight against champion Julianna Pena in the co-main event.
One preliminary card fighter, though, missed weight by a stunning amount.
3 Kayla Harrison made 135lbs for the first time in her career on Friday.
Zuffa LLC
Harrison, 34, previously never made 135 pounds and certainly looked drained on the scales, but she is surely rehydrating now as she prepares to fight for a world title Saturday.
The first to the scale, perhaps surprisingly, was the 'Sugar Show' Sean O'Malley, who is looking to recapture his bantamweight gold against Merab Dvalishvili.
O'Malley was defeated by Dvalishvili last October at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
The only fighter to miss the cut Friday was Ariane da Silva (formerly Ariane Lipski), who missed weight by six pounds.
3 Julianna Pena will face Kayla Harrison on Saturday night for the women's bantamweight title.
Zuffa LLC
UFC 316 weigh-in results
Fighter Weight (pounds) Merab Dvalishvili 134 Sean O'Malley 135 Julianna Peña 135 Kayla Harrison 135 Kelvin Gastelum 185 Joe Pyfer 185 Mario Bautista 135.1 Patchy Mix 135.1 Kevin Holland 170.1 Vicente Luque 170 Bruno Silva 125 Joshua Van 125.1 Azamat Murzakanov 205 Brendson Ribeiro 205 Waldo Cortes-Acosta 265 Serghei Spivac 251 Andreas Gustafsson 170 Khaos Williams 170 Wang Cong 125 Ariane da Silva 132* Jeka Saragih 145 Joo Sang Yoo 145.1 Yanal Ashmouz 155 Quillan Salkilld 156 Mark Choinski 155 MarQuel Mederos 155 * Missed weight
UFC broadcaster and former two-division champion Daniel Cormier was stunned she weighed 132 pounds when her maximum allowance was 126 pounds.
'Six pounds overweight? Well, that fight ain't happening,' Cormier said on the broadcast of the weigh-ins. 'How do you go up there at six pounds over? At six pounds over, you don't go up there.'
3 Ariane da Silva missed weight by six pounds but the fight is expected to go on.
Zuffa LLC
Despite the massive weight miss, her opponent, Wang Cong, revealed on Instagram that she accepted the fight and will receive a portion of da Silva's fight purse as compensation.
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