Champion Charles Oliveira misses weight for the Lightweight Championship fight at UFC 274. As a result, he has been stripped of his title and it is now vacant. However, the contest will go on as scheduled. But only Justin Gaethje will be eligible to win the belt as he made weight for the fight.
Major drama ahead of this Saturday’s event as Charles Oliveria weighed in at 156lbs initially. Things already got off to a bad start as the champ did not show up for the weigh-ins until 6 minutes were left of the official time. After coming in 1 full pound heavier, Oliveira asked for the towels to weigh in without any clothes on.
Charles Oliveira missed the 155-pound limit for his lightweight title fight after receiving an additional hour to lose .5 pounds and has been stripped of his title.
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 6, 2022
The #UFC274 main event will commence, but only Justin Gaethje has the opportunity to win the UFC title. pic.twitter.com/W7tc8ZCeZk
But that also did not help as Do Bronx still weighed in at 155.5lbs. Following that, he was afforded one more hour to cut the rest of the weight and come under the 155lbs limit. However, the champ still failed as there was no change in his body weight despite 60 extra minutes of effort.
UFC strips Charles Oliveira of the Lightweight Championship
After the whole fiasco, UFC broadcaster Jon Anik announced that Charles Oliveira will no longer be the champion ahead of UFC 274. Hence, only Gaethje can get his hands on the belt if he beats Charles Oliveira this Saturday.
Oliveira vacated the title. Fight is still on. Gaethje can win the title.#UFC274 pic.twitter.com/o2X4TpZBp0
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) May 6, 2022
It is a major blow for the UFC as one of their premier champions has missed weight ahead of a title fight which had a lot of potentials to be one of the fights of the year. Although the contest will still carry on and the fans may see a new 155lbs champion, Oliveira’s weight miss has certainly dampened the mood for the PPV main event.
Charles Oliveira will also face a significant fine for missing weight. But the amount of the penalty is unclear at the moment. The now stripped lightweight champion previously missed weight 4 times in the UFC. But those took place while he was still fighting at 145bs. This is the first time that he has failed to make weight at Lightweight. Even if he wins against Justin this weekend, Charles is not eligible to regain the championship. However, the UFC may have to set a rematch for a later date to determine the next champion in case Oliveira comes out top this Saturday,
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