Friday’s official UFC 271 fighter weigh-ins where two athletes missed weight and one fight was canceled.
The weigh-ins took place at the UFC host hotel in Houston. The nearby Toyota Center hosts Saturday’s event, which has a main card on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
The preliminary card bout between Alex Perez and Matt Schnell was canceled after the former missed weight by two pounds. A UFC official informed MMA Junkie the cancellation came after Schnell declined to partake in a bout in which Perez missed weight. The cancellation marks the fourth time the matchup has been scheduled and canceled – with numerous cancellations occurring during fight weeks.
William Knight also missed the mark, but by a much wider margin. For a light heavyweight bout, Knight weighed 218 pounds – 12 pounds over the light heavyweight limit. As a result, he forfeited 40 percent of his purse and his bout vs. Maxim Grishin was elevated to heavyweight.
My best weight cut yet.
😱🤯😡💉💦 pic.twitter.com/UBz8BmWQud— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) February 11, 2022
Among those who made weight were middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (21-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) and former champ Robert Whittaker (23-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC), who were among the first to hit the scales.
In addition, home city Houston fan favorite Derrick Lewis (26-8 MMA, 17-6 UFC) takes on Tai Tuivasa (14-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) at heavyweight and Derek Brunson (23-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) fights Jared Cannonier (14-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) in a key middleweight bout. All four of those athletes made weight, too.
The full UFC 271 weigh-in results:
MAIN CARD
Champ Israel Adesanya (184) vs. Robert Whittaker (184) – for middleweight title
Derrick Lewis (266) vs. Tai Tuivasa (265)
Derek Brunson (185.5) vs. Jared Cannonier (185)
Kyler Phillips (136) vs. Marcelo Rojo (136)
Bobby Green (155.5) vs. Nasrat Haqparast (156)
PRELIMINARY CARD
Andrei Arlovski (246) vs. Jared Vanderaa (265)
Roxanne Modafferi (126) vs. Casey O’Neill (125.5)
Alex Perez (128)* vs. Matt Schnell (126)
Maxim Grishin (206) vs. William Knight (218)**
Ronnie Lawrence (136) vs. Mana Martinez (136)
Alexander Hernandez (156) vs. Renato Moicano (156)
Fabio Cherant (206) vs. Carlos Ulberg (204)
AJ Dobson (185) vs. Jacob Malkoun (186)
Douglas Silva de Andrade (136) vs. Sergey Morozov (135)
Blood Diamond (170) vs. Jeremiah Wells (170.5)
* = Perez missed weight class limit by 2 pounds; the bout was later canceled
** = Knight missed weight by 12 pounds; as a result, the bout was shifted to the heavyweight division
