Defending UFC champion Charles Oliveira has been stripped of his title after failing to make the 155lb lightweight limit for his bout with Justin Gaethje.
The 32-year-old Brazilian was due to put his title on the line at UFC 274 in Arizona but weighed in half a pound over the limit. It left him with an hour to make weight, but after failing to do so the fight will no longer go ahead. Fighters in UFC title bouts are not permitted the one-pound allowance typically afforded in non-championship showdowns.
Oliveira later insisted he had been on weight when he went to bed on Thursday night. “The story is that I went up to my room. I made weight on the UFC scale on Thursday night. I go up to my room (and) didn’t consume anything," he said. "No water, no food, no anything. I swear to God. In the name of my daughter, the most sacred thing in my life. I went to bed. I wake up the following day and it’s a pound over.
