UFC Releases Statement on Historic Charles Oliveira Weight Miss Ahead of UFC 274

.@UFC provides an update on the #UFC274 main event between Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje.https://t.co/Z3iB2GDaWj

— UFC News (@UFCNews) May 6, 2022

The Ultimate Fighting Championship felt the need to clear the air directly following the shocking turn of events on Friday morning.

Ahead of the UFC 274 main event, lightweight champ Charles Oliveira missed championship weight, hitting the scales at 155.5 pounds. He still weighed this number after receiving an additional hour to cut weight, and as a result, the UFC had to act accordingly. Oliveira is still set to take on Justin Gaethje in the headliner slot, and the title fight now has substantially different implications depending on the outcome. The promotion released a statement following the weigh-ins to clarify what can happen on Saturday night.

“Charles Oliveira missed weight for his UFC 274 main event bout against Justin Gaethje on Friday afternoon in Phoenix, weighing in at 155.5 pounds,” the statement wrote. “Due to the weight miss, Oliveira will forfeit a percentage of his purse. As of this moment, Charles Oliveira remains the UFC Lightweight Champion, but upon the start of the Main Event Headliner tomorrow night he will vacate the 155-pound title. The fight will proceed as scheduled, but the championship will only be on the line for Gaethje. If Oliveira wins, he will be the number one contender for the vacant Lightweight Championship and will fight the next challenger for the undisputed title belt at a time and place to be determined.”

Oliveira is the first defending champ to ever miss weight ahead of a championship fight, and subsequently will be the first to surrender his belt in such a fashion. While Nicco Montano fell ill due to a weight cut and was hospitalized, and losing her strap stripped as a result, she did not attend weigh-ins and therefore did not even hit the scales and register a number. Challengers for vacant championships have missed weight in the past, including Anthony Pettis and Yoel Romero, while challengers for undisputed titles have also come in heavy and lost their opportunity to fight for gold, like Travis Lutter and Joe Riggs.

When he missed weight on his first attempt and his re-weigh effort, Oliveira appeared surprised and not dismayed. Other UFC fighters including Ariane Carnelossi, Claudia Gadelha and Casey O'Neill lamented that there were errors with the backstage scale, which resulted in miscalculations and competitors missing weight. In addition to Oliveira, Norma Dumont tipped the scales a half pound above the featherweight limit, and she elected to take a 30% fine instead of cutting any more water. Gaethje strongly disagreed, stating that he weighed the same regardless of the weighing apparatus, while also pointing out that three of the four competitors requiring championship weight successfully hit their marks.

UFC 274 will go down at the Footprint Center in Phoenix on May 7, and it will still feature a pair of title fights on top, although the headliner has changed in the aforementioned fashion. The co-main event draws a strawweight championship rematch between Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza. Rounding out the main card include a lightweight clash between Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson, a light heavyweight rematch with Mauricio Rua looking to exact revenge against Ovince St. Preux and a 155-pound thriller when top bonus winners Donald Cerrone and Joe Lauzon square off.