This weekend’s UFC 274 event is off to a rough start after the champion from the main event failed to make weight.
It has just been announced that lightweight champion Charles Oliveira has been stripped of his title after he failed to make 155-pounds at the weigh-in earlier today. Oliviera was half a pound overweight, and was unable to shed it in the extra hour he was given, meaning the lightweight title is now vacated.
The main event will still take place. And Oliviera’s opponent, Justin Gaethje, can still win the title should he defeat Charles on Saturday night in Phoenix.
Oliviera won the lightweight title in May 2021, when he defeated Michael Chandler to claim the vacated belt at UFC 262. Seven months later at UFC 269, he successfully defended the title against Dustin Poirier.
As for Gaethje, he previously held the interim UFC lightweight title, but lost his unification bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov. He’ll get another chance to claim the belt tomorrow night at the Footprint Center.
