There were questions surrounding how the fighters scheduled to compete at UFC 249 would manage weight-cutting with COVID-19 complicating the process.
Those questions were answered as 23 of the 24 fighters made weight, including the main event and co-main event fighters, with Tony Ferguson (155), Justin Gaethje (155), Henry Cejudo (135) and Dominick Cruz (135) hitting weight on the nose for their championship fights.
The only fighter who was unable to make weight was Jeremy Stephens, who came in at 150.5 pounds — 4.5 pounds over the limit — for his featherweight showdown with Calvin Kattar. The fight will go on and Stephens will be fined an undisclosed percentage of his fight purse.
Ferguson made weight for the second time in three weeks after he took it upon himself to weigh in at the 155-pound limit back on April 17, the day before his originally scheduled fight with Gaethje was set to take place. He had no problems making weight this time.
Fighters entered the weigh-in area wearing masks and stepped on a sanitized scale. There were UFC staff and media members present but social distancing practices were in effect.
After all the fighters hit the scale, there were staredowns. Some fighters stayed at a distance and wore their face masks while others didn't mind the interaction and close distance. Gaethje and Ferguson even shook hands ahead of their interim lightweight title showdown. After all, they are going to be a lot closer to each other Saturday night.
UFC 249 takes place May 9 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.
UFC 249 Main Card weights
- Tony Ferguson (155) vs. Justin Gaethje (155) — for interim UFC lightweight title
- Henry Cejudo (135) vs. Dominick Cruz (135) — for Cejudo's UFC bantamweight title
- Francis Ngannou (261.5) vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (260)
- Calvin Kattar (146) vs. Jeremy Stephens (150.5*)
- Yorgan De Castro (262) vs. Greg Hardy (265.5)
UFC 249 Prelims
- Donald Cerrone (171) vs. Anthony Pettis (170.5)
- Aleksei Oleinik (227.5) vs. Fabricio Werdum (243)
- Carla Esparza (115.5) vs. Michelle Waterson (115)
- Uriah Hall (186) vs. Ronaldo Souza (186)
UFC Fight Pass Prelims
- Vicente Luque (170) vs. Niko Price (170.5)
- Bryce Mitchell (145.5) vs. Charles Rosa (146)
- Sam Alvey (205) vs. Ryan Spann (206)