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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Harry Davies

UFC fighter gives up 40 per cent of purse after twelve pound weight miss

Light heavyweight fighter William Knight has forfeited 40 per cent of his purse after missing weight by twelve pounds for UFC 271.

Knight was scheduled to fight Maxim Grishin in a light heavyweight fight on the opening bout of the preliminary card for this Saturday's event.

Grishin successfully weighed in at 206lbs for the fight, but Knight stepped on the scale at 218lbs and was deducted 40 per cent of his fight purse.

UFC officials have since confirmed the fight will not be removed from the card and instead take place at heavyweight.

Knight missing the mark by 12lbs is the largest weight miss in UFC history, with the previous record being held by Rafael Alves who came in 11.5lbs heavy for a featherweight fight last year.

It means that 'Knightmare' - who has never missed weight before - will also be ineligible to win any UFC 271 performance bonuses, such as Fight of the Night or Performance of the Night.

Grishin is no stranger to the heavyweight division as the Russian started his current UFC stint at the weight class, losing against Marcin Tybura before he moved to 205lbs.

He also missed weight for his last fight against Dustin Jacoby, weighing in four and a half pounds over the light heavyweight limit at 210.5lbs.

Main event fighters Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker made weight for their middleweight title clash, both stepping on the scale at 184lbs.

Heavyweight fan favourites Derrick Lewis and Tui Tuivasa both made the mark for their co-main event, with Lewis weighing 266lbs and Tuivasa weighing 265lbs.

Who wins at UFC 271 - Israel Adesanya or Robert Whittaker? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below

All other main card fighters, including top middleweights Jared Cannonier and Derek Brunson, all made weight for their respective bouts.

Elsewhere on the card, a flyweight fight between Alex Perez and Matt Schnell was cancelled after Perez missed weighed in two pounds above the 125lb limit.

UFC officials revealed that Schnell, who weighed in at 126lbs, refused to accept the fight with Perez after he missed weight.

It marks the fourth time the fight has been cancelled, with Schnell falling in after weighing at UFC 269 for the previous booking of the fight.

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