UFC 297: Gordon and Tavares Miss Weight and Will Remain on Card.
Ramon Tavares misses weight by nearly five pounds at UFC 297 weigh ins (via NoSmokeMMA)
During the official weigh-ins for UFC 297, two fighters failed to make weight for their preliminary bouts. Malcom Gordon, who is tasked with opening the card missed weight by a pound and a half for his Flyweight fight against Jimmy Flick. Additionally, Bantamweight Ramon Tavares missed weight by nearly five pounds for his fight against Serihy Sidey.
Despite this, neither fight was cancelled and both fighters will still compete on Saturday night with deductions to their respective purses. Tavares, having committed the greater offense will forfeit 30% of his purse while Gordon will forfeit 20% of his purse. This is against the grain for the UFC, considering that several recent fights have been cancelled outright due to weight misses. The most recent and well known example of this is when former Welterweight title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson pulled out of his fight against Michel Pereira at UFC 291, after Pereira missed weight by four pounds.
Thompson said via The MMA Hour that this instance was a “slap in the face,” and did not want to give Pereira the opportunity to fight a top contender when he was unable to make weight in the first place. Thompson is not the only UFC star that has expressed outrage when fighters miss weight. Former Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya believes that the purse deduction of 20% is far too low to incentivize fighters to be more diligent about their weight.
After Adesanya’s title fight against Paulo Costa at UFC 253, Adesanya proposed a much higher penalty for missing weight to UFC President Dana White while still in the cage after his win. In a video posted by the UFC, Adesanya stated “30% is not enough … It’s cheating. Make it 80%.”
Although this has the potential to fix the weight missing problem, it could greatly effect the fighters who are not making championship caliber money like Adesanya or Thompson. The average UFC earnings is $12,000 to show and $12,000 to win. If Adesanya’s proposal was approved, then a fighter who misses weight but wins his fight at the average salary would only walk away with $4,800. With the UFC being constantly ridiculed for not paying their fighters enough, a rule like this could make the situation even more controversial.
Despite the argument that being a true competitor means that one must make weight every time, there are still other complications finding a solution to the problem. There is also a common belief that one has a significant advantage having not made weight due to the fact they did not have to put the same level of strain on their body as their opponent. This is a serious problem from many perspectives, but finding a solution has proven to be far more complex than it seems. Fans will now be eagerly watching Saturday night to see if the perceived advantages make a difference in the outcome of Gordon and Tavares’ fights.
