NEW YORK – MMA Junkie was on the scene and reported on Friday’s official UFC 281 fighter weigh-ins, where two fighters missed their marks.
In the main event, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (23-1 MMA, 12-1 UFC) takes on challenger and former kickboxing opponent Alex Pereira (6-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC). Adesanya was part of the first flurry of fighters to weigh in, but Pereira needed the final minutes of the two-hour window. With five minutes remaining, Pereira weighed inside the weigh box that UFC fighters use to strip for extra help on the scales.
Chcamp women’s strawweight Carla Esparza (19-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) and former titleholder Zhang Weili (22-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC), who meet in the co-feature made weight without issue. In addition, Michael Chandler (23-7 MMA, 2-2 UFC), and Dustin Poirier (28-7 MMA, 20-6 UFC) managed to hit their marks ahead of a key lightweight bout.
Preliminary Card Fighters Mike Trizano (9-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) and ryan spann (20-7 MMA, 6-2 UFC) missed weight, however. Their fights against Seung Woo Choi (10-5 MMA, 3-4 CFU) and Dominique Reyes (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC), respectively, will continue. Trizano and Spann will each lose 20% of their purse to their opponents.
Former lightweight champion Frankie Edgard (24-10-1 MMA, 18-10-1 UFC), who is fighting in what will likely be his banamweight retirement bout against Chris Gutierrez (18-3-2 MMA, 6-1-1 UFC), regained weight, making it 30-for-30 in his UFC tenure.
The first weigh-ins took place at the UFC’s host hotel in New York and preceded the weigh-in ceremony for supporters, which will take place at 4 p.m. ET at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Nearby Madison Square Garden is hosting Saturday’s event, which has a main card on pay-per-view after the preliminaries on ESPNews and the first prelims on ESPN+.
The full UFC 281 weigh-in results included:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Champion Israel Adesanya (185) vs. Alex Pereira (184.6) – for the middleweight title
- Champ Carla Esparza (114.8) vs. Zhang Weili (114.8) – for the women’s strawweight title
- Michael Chandler (155.8) vs. Dustin Poirier (156)
- Frankie Edgar (135.6) vs. Chris Gutierrez (136)
- Dan Hooker (155.8) vs. Claudio Puelles (155.2)
PRELIMINARY MAP (ESPNews/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
- Renato Moicano (155.8) vs. Brad Riddell (155.6)
- Dominick Reyes (205.4) vs. Ryan Spann (206.6)*
- Erin Blanchfield (125) vs. Molly McCann (125.4)
- André Petroski (185.8) against Wellington Turman (185.2)
PRELIMINARY MAP (ESPNews/ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
- Ottman Azaitar (155.6) vs. Matt Frevola (154.8)
- Silvana Gomez Juarez (115.6) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (115.6)
- Seungwoo Choi (145.6) vs. Michael Trizano (147.6)**
- Julio Arce (135.8) vs. Montel Jackson (135.8)
- Nicolae Negumereanu (206) vs. Carlos Ulberg (205.2)
* Spann lost 0.6 pounds in weight and will be fined 20% of his fight purse.
** Trizano lost 1.6 pounds in weight and will be fined 20% of his fight purse.