‘The UFC is not to blame’ — Oliveira clears air on weigh-in controversy
Charles Oliveira tries to make sense of what went wrong at the UFC 274 weigh-ins.
Should Charles Oliveira have been stripped of the lightweight title after missing weight by half a pound at the UFC 274 weigh-ins?
Some say yes while others feel that the punishment didn’t fit the crime and that the Brazilian got ‘screwed’ by the UFC.
Whichever side of the debate you fall on, though, ‘Do Bronx’ wants to make it clear that the UFC wasn’t to blame.
UFC official Marc Ratner believes Oliveira’s hotel scale may have been tampered with and, if that’s the case, Oliveira believes the Arizona Athletic Commission may have been at fault.
“I think the UFC is not to blame. I think it is actually the athletic commission which is responsible for weigh-ins, right? I hit the weight on Thursday on the UFC scale. So that scale was changed, was removed, right?” [Translation via Brazilian MMA Legends]
Although Oliveira only weighed half a pound over the lightweight championship limit he, too, must share some of the responsibility for not showing up on weight.
Regardless, the now-former lightweight champion went on to defeat Justin Gaethje via first-round submission and left no doubt as to who the best lightweight fighter in the world is.
The champion, after all, has a name, and “his name is Charles Oliveira.”