Enrique Barzola will be forced to move up in weight for his next fight in California after piling on almost 12kg in one day before competing at Bellator 286 this past weekend.
Barzola, 33, was taking on former bantamweight champion Juan Archuleta at the event, which took place at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center in Long Beach, California. Barzola weighed in at 137.4lb for the catchweight fight, but on fight night he stepped foot in the cage at 163.4lb, meaning he put on a whopping 26lb in just over a day.
Archuleta went on to win the fight by unanimous decision, coming firing out of the blocks in the opening round and out-landing Barzola over the course of 15 minutes. 'The Spaniard' came close to being disqualified after almost landing an illegal head kick, but Barzola blocked the strike with his arm meaning the referee didn't penalise Archuleta.
Barzola did have some success despite the lopsided defeat, landing some good elbows as Archuleta tried to secure takedowns against the fence. It wasn't enough for the Peruvian however, as the former champion Archuleta continued to pick him apart on the feet whilst mixing in his takedowns to secure the decision win.
The 19 per cent weight increase from Barzola's weigh-in day to fight night weight was the largest of all 26 fighters who competed at the Bellator 286 event, which prompted officials from the California Athletic State Commission (CSAC) to suspend Barzola from fighting at, or below, 135lb at future events regulated by the commission.
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Also suspended for his weight gain was former UFC veteran Spike Carlyle, who weighed in 156.6lb for his lightweight fight with AJ McKee but entered the cage at 180.2lb. As it's not the first time Carlyle has put on a huge amount of weight in between a weigh-in and fight night in California, his 15 per cent increase means the CSAC have subsequently him from competing in the state at or below 155 pounds moving forward.
Barzola and Archuleta's fight was originally scheduled at bantamweight, but it was moved to a 141lb catchweight during the weigh-in window. Addressing the situation after his win, Archuleta said: "We got called and I guess they told both parties 'hey, stop cutting weight. You're going to weigh in at 141[lb]' and I said 'alright, cool'. That's what we were told whilst we were cutting weight and we just kept it from there. I've never missed weight but they made the call and I have no idea [why it happened]."
