UFC superstars Daniel Cormier, Ben Askren, and Aljamain Sterling have all reacted to the weight controversy in the upcoming UFC 274 PPV.
The issue arrived when Charles “Du Bronx” Oliveira, the current lightweight champion missed the 155 lbs weight limit by half a pound! In any non-title fight, there is a giveaway of 1 pound either way, But in the case of a championship bout, the challenger and the champion must both have the correct amount of body weight.
After Do Bronx missed weight the first time, he had one more hour to recut the extra weight and get back on the scale. In a surprising turn of events, Charles missed weight again!
This is the first time in UFC history that a champion has missed championship weight. His lightweight belt will be vacated before the fight tomorrow! This means that if Justin Gaethje wins the bout, He will be crowned champion. But if Oliveria manages to win it, He will be named number one contender and fight for the vacant title once again.
Former UFC champion Daniel Cormier took to Twitter to say that:
If the scale being heavy is true that cannot happen! Unfortunate turn at UFC 274!
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) May 6, 2022
DC addressed rumors that that scale was heavy and not calibrated correctly and that is why Charles might have missed weight. He labeled the incident as unfortunate.
Ben Askren, the former welterweight contender has voiced his displeasure with the slide scales:
What did Olivera weigh on the digital that they have backstage? Those are way more reliable than the shitty slide scales.
— Funky (@Benaskren) May 6, 2022
When Charles missed weight he seemed confused as apparently, he had weighed correctly backstage. The UFC’s use of manual slide scales for weighing fighters has been scrutinized by many! The much more reliable digital scales have not been introduced into the UFC for an undisclosed reason.
Fighters such as DC and Askren seem to be on the side of Charles and their tweets suggest that there may have been foul play and possibilities of Oliveria being screwed over!
Aljamain Sterling on the other hand re-tweeted DC to invite him to the UFC VIP event that he is hosting.