The UFC Brasilia main event is happening, but not without a hiccup.
Headliner Kevin Lee weighed in at 158.5 pounds on Friday, 2.5 pounds over the lightweight limit (including the one-pound non-title allowance) for his bout with Charles Oliveira in Brasilia, Brazil, this Saturday.
Lee did not initially show up during the scheduled weigh-in window, but CABMMA (Brazil’s athletic commission) told MMA Fighting that Lee weighed in backstage ahead of the 11 a.m. (local time) deadline. He later stepped onto the official scale. Doctors did not allow Lee an extra hour to make the weight.
According to CABMMA, Lee was only able to cut 0.5 pounds in his final 30 minutes before weighing in. This is the second time that Lee failed to make the 155-pound limit in his UFC career.
UPDATE: Oliveira’s team has agreed to take the fight with Lee, per UFC.com. According to sources, the penalty will be 20 percent of Lee’s purse.
This is just another speed bump in what has been a tumultuous week for the UFC Brasilia show and the entirety of the sporting world, which has seen numerous major events and entire seasons canceled or postponed. Saturday’s UFC show will take place in an empty Nilson Nelson Gymnasium following Federal District governor Ibaneis Rocha’s decree that gatherings of more than 100 people would be suspended until March 16.
On fight night, media will have limited access to the athletes at the event’s host hotel. Outside of TV partners, reporters were not permitted to attend Friday’s official weigh-ins.
The last time Lee missed weight was for a bout opposite Edson Barboza in the main event of UFC Atlantic City on April 21, 2018. Lee went on to defeat Barboza by fifth-round doctor stoppage.
See the full UFC Brasilia weigh-in results below:
Main card (ESPN, ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
Kevin Lee (158.5) vs. Charles Oliveira (156)
Demian Maia (170.5) vs. Gilbert Burns (170.5)
Renato Moicano (155.5) vs. Damir Hadzovic (155)
Johnny Walker (206) vs. Nikita Krylov (206)
Francisco Trinaldo (156) vs. John Makdessi (155)
Preliminary Card (ESPN, ESPN+, 3 p.m. ET)
Jussier Formiga (126) vs. Brandon Moreno (126)
Amanda Ribas (115.5) vs. Randa Markos (116)
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (171) vs. Alexey Kunchenko (170)
Rani Yahya (136) vs. Enrique Barzola (136)
Mayra Bueno Silva (126) vs. Maryna Moroz (126)
Bruno Silva (125.5) vs. David Dvorak (126)
Veronica Macedo (135.5) vs. Bea Malecki (136)
Source: mmafighting.com
