Charles Oliveira became the first UFC champion to lose his title on the scale ahead of UFC 274 last month. To ESPN, he admitted that he felt that the title was “stolen” from him on the scale.
Oliveira was scheduled to make his second title defense on UFC 274 last month against Justin Gaethje. But before the much-anticipated fight begin, the champion failed to make weight.
‘Do Bronx’ hit the scale at 155.5 pounds, a mere 0.5 pounds (200 grams) above the lightweight limit. It should be mentioned that non-title fights in the UFC allow the fighter to weigh a pound above the weight class limit. However, in a title bout, fighters should weigh at the limit or below.
Fortunately for Oliveira, he finished Gaethje early in the first round to secure another shot to his title. He is now the No.1-ranked contender in the lightweight division.
In a recent interview with ESPN in Portuguese, Oliveira shared his side of the story on how the overweight drama begins.
“I’ve never had a weight problem since I moved up in the division. Usually on Thursday at 20:00, I’m already at the weight. Then I told my team to let the weight cut later, and when it was 22:00 I was already at the I called my parents and told them I was at my weight, that everything was fine. The next day I was happy, playing with everyone, when I weighed myself I was 1kg over the scale, it was already another. I immediately said it was crazy. It was impossible.”
“I did exercises, I went to the sauna, everything that was possible to do I did, I had lost 800g quickly. So we started to receive information from all the fighters that there was an error in the scale, all the fighters received it and I was the only one not, even though I am the champion of the category”
After trying various ways and still having the same weight, he believes something was off. Oliveira further added that he felt the commission robbed him of his title.
“200g was missing, and I did something I hate, which was getting in the hot tub. I stayed in it for 40 minutes, I went to weigh myself with my underwear wet, it gave the same weight. I weighed myself without underwear and it was the same weight. So, for me, they could have ripped my leg off, it would still give the same weight. The city athletic commission robbed me, they robbed me. That’s the reality.“
“The city commission robbed me, they wanted the champion to be from their city, but it didn’t even come close. I think there was some pressure on the scale. Anyone could go up, I wouldn’t make weight,” he added.
While other fighters have complained about the scale, Oliveira still stripped of his title prior to entering the octagon. He is now waiting for the promotion’s decision on who will fight him for the vacant title.
While we might be tempted to chalk it up to superstition – if there wasn’t any truth to scale meddling rumors, the UFC wouldn’t be hiring a guard to guard the scale. Longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan also confirmed that the scale was ‘messed with’.
Serving in the commentator booth that night, Joe Rogan has shared his thoughts on the controversy. He also claimed that Oliveira was screwed by the “shenanigans” in the scale.
“He’s a very, very nice guy, and he got screwed in his last fight,” Rogan said. “There was some shenanigans with the scale. ”
“Some people had messed with the scale. Here’s a problem with these digital scales: Foreign fighters, they use kilograms and in America, obviously we use pounds.”
“These scales are calibrated and then the foreign fighters would reset the scale so they could switch it back to kilograms. So it f*cks up the whole calibration. ”
“He weighed in the night before the weigh-ins, and he was like, ‘Oh, I’m good to go.’ And then in the morning, he goes and shows up for the weight cut, and it’s a pound plus off, and that is directly related to this calibration thing.”