For UFC vice president of regulatory affairs Marc Ratner, the UFC 274 weigh-in controversy surrounding Charles Oliveira is black and white.
Oliveira submitted Justin Gaethje in the first round of the UFC 274 headliner this past Saturday at Footprint Center in Phoenix, but he’s no longer the lightweight champion because he weighed in over the championship limit of 155 pounds one day earlier. Oliveira registered a mark of 155.5 on his first weigh-in attempt. Per the Arizona commission’s rules, Olivera was allowed one hour to cut the half-pound. When he returned for his second try, Oliveira still weighed 155.5, which forced him to vacate the lightweight once the UFC 274 main event began.
Oliveira, who tweeted he was on weight the morning of official weigh-ins, was stunned by his miss. But what really raised the level of controversy was the fact that several fighters questioned the accuracy of the unofficial scale being used to check weights before stepping on the official scale.
