Charles Oliveira stripped of UFC lightweight title after missing weight by half a pound
The main event for Saturday's UFC 274 pay-per-view card changed dramatically on Friday.
As Brett Okamoto explained for ESPN, Charles Oliveira (32-8-0) has been stripped of the UFC lightweight championship after he failed to make weight on multiple occasions for Saturday's title defense versus Justin Gaethje (23-3-0). Even after Oliveira was presented with an extra hour to drop excess weight, he still checked in a half-pound over the 155-pound limit required to defend the title.
Gaethje, meanwhile, made weight and, thus, can win what is now considered a vacant championship by beating Oliveira on Saturday night. The 33-year-old was the interim champion when he was defeated by all-time great Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2020 in what has, to this day, remained Nurmagomedov's last professional bout.
Nurmagomedov has repeatedly insisted he's retired.
Following Nurmagomedov's retirement, Oliveira beat Michael Chandler for the vacant strap at UFC 262 last May. The 32-year-old then successfully defended the crown against Dustin Poirier at UFC 269 in December and was hoping to make a second title defense on the first Saturday of May.
It's unclear what would be booked for the title if Gaethje doesn't defeat Oliveira.
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