UFC 259 Weigh-in Results: 3 Title Fights Set; Askarov Misses Weight

Israel Adesanya weighed in with a box of pizza in hand and still came in well below the light heavyweight limit for his title fight.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is kicking off March with its most stacked pay-per-view offering of 2021 so far. The event, which features three title fights, will be capped off by middleweight champion Israel Adesanya moving up a division to challenge the newly crowned light heavyweight titleholder Jan Blachowicz. The 15-fight UFC 259 card also features two additional title fights as Amanda Nunes will put her featherweight title on the line against Megan Anderson, while bantamweight champ Petr Yan will look to stop the surging Aljamain Sterling. None of the fighters in any of these bouts had any issue making weight.

Blachowicz (27-8) has been highly impressive since getting knocked out by Thiago Santos in 2019. Wins over Luke Rockhold, Ronaldo Souza and Corey Anderson led to the Polish fighter earning a crack at the vacant light heavyweight strap opposite Dominick Reyes. Blachowicz put on a dominant performance over two rounds to take home the belt, and will look to cement his reign with his first title defense. The Polish champ officially weighed 205 pounds.

Adesanya (20-0) has yet to taste defeat in his professional mixed martial arts career, and will look to keep his undefeated record intact by becoming a champion in two weight divisions. Adesanya claimed the interim middleweight title against Kelvin Gastelum in 2019, and promptly followed that up by knocking out Robert Whittaker in a unification bout. Since his undisputed reign began, Adesanya won a decision over Yoel Romero and knocked out Paulo Costa. “The Last Stylebender” had no issue making weight, stepping on the scales at a lean 200.5 pounds, and posed with a pizza box afterward.

Women’s bantamweight and featherweight queen Nunes (20-4) will look to extend her 11-fight win streak against Anderson (11-4). This is Nunes’ second straight title defense of her featherweight belt, as she most recently won a lopsided decision over Felicia Spencer. Meanwhile, Anderson earned the title shot after submitting Zarah Fairn dos Santos and knocking out Norma Dumont. The double champion had no trouble making the championship fight official as she weighed 145 pounds, while the challenger weighed 144.5 pounds.

Wrapping up the championship tripleheader is Yan (15-1) making his first defense since winning the vacant bantamweight throne by stopping Jose Aldo. In his way is Sterling (19-3), who is riding an impressive five-fight win streak that includes a quick submission win over Cory Sandhagen. The Russian officially weighed 135 pounds, while the “Funk Master” came in at 134.5 pounds.

Undefeated flyweight contender Askar Askarov failed to make the 126-pound limit for his bout against Joseph Benavidez. "Bullet" came in a pound overweight, stepping on the scales at 127 pounds. Despite being given additional time to cut, Askarov (12-0-1) opted against it and will be fined 20 percent of his purse as a result. Finally, Glover Teixeira weighed in as an alternate in case the event loses Blachowicz or Adesanya unexpectedly, tipping the scales at a championship weight of 204.5 pounds.

UFC 259’s main card will air exclusively on ESPN+ pay-per-view starting at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Prior to that, four featured preliminary bouts will air simultaneously on ESPN+ and ESPN starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Six early prelims will start off the night, showing on ESPN2, ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass beginning at 5:15 p.m. ET/2:15 p.m. PT.

UFC 259 Weigh-in Results:

Jan Blachowicz (205) vs. Israel Adesanya (200.5)
Amanda Nunes (145) vs. Megan Anderson (144.5)
Petr Yan (135) vs. Aljamain Sterling (134.5)
Islam Makhachev (156) vs. Drew Dober (156)
Thiago Santos (206) vs. Aleksandar Rakic (206)
Dominick Cruz (136) vs. Casey Kenney (136)
Yadong Song (135.5) vs. Kyler Phillips (136)
Joseph Benavidez (125.5) vs. Askar Askarov (127)*
Rogerio Bontorin (126) vs. Kai Kara France (125.5)
Tim Elliott (125.5) vs. Jordan Espinosa (126)
Kennedy Nzechukwu (205.5) vs. Carlos Ulberg (205)
Sean Brady (170.5) vs. Jake Matthews (169.5)
Livinha Souza (116) vs. Amanda Lemos (116)
Uros Medic (156) vs. Aalon Cruz (155)
Mario Bautista (135.5) vs. Trevin Jones (134.5)
Glover Teixeira (204.5)

* Askarov missed weight by one pound and has been fined 20 percent of his purse.