Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje (& Every Time a UFC Fighter Missed Weight For A Title Fight)
Whenever a UFC fighter heads into a title bout, they actually have two challenges that week. First, they have to win the fight against their opponent in order to become champions. However, before they even get into the cage, they have to defeat the scale on weigh-in day.
Throughout UFC history, it's very rare for a fighter to miss weight for a title bout, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Most recently at UFC 274, Charles Oliveira missed weight for his lightweight bout with Justin Gaethje. However, the Brazilian isn't alone in history as losing the battle to the scale prior to a fight for gold.
7 Matt Hughes vs. Joe Riggs (UFC 56)
When Matt Hughes ended his career, he had a total of seven title defenses across two UFC welterweight title reigns. What is forgotten is that the Hall of Famer should've had an additional title defense on the books. That being his victory over Joe Riggs at UFC 56.
It was the first time in UFC history that a fighter missed weight for a title bout. Riggs missed weight by 2.5 pounds, but the bout was allowed to go ahead as a non-title affair. After losing to the scale, Riggs went on to lose to Hughes via first-round submission.
6 Anderson Silva vs. Travis Lutter (UFC 67)
Matt Serra made history on The Ultimate Fighter season four. After winning the welterweight tournament, he went on to shock the world with a first-round knockout of Georges St-Pierre. The winner of the other tournament that season was Travis Lutter. The grappling expert didn't have the same success as Serra.
Lutter was matched up with then-middleweight champion Anderson Silva. He missed weight badly against the champion, being over by two pounds. Once again the fight went ahead as a non-title bout, but Silva won via second-round submission.
5 Max Holloway vs. Anthony Pettis (UFC 206)
Anthony Pettis' short-lived run at featherweight is commonly forgotten, and for good reason. After defeating Charles Oliveira, he was given an interim title fight with Max Holloway at UFC 206. Sadly for Showtime, the title fight went ahead as one for only Holloway, as he missed weight by three pounds.
The interim title fight was dominated by Holloway. After Pettis's hand broke early in the fight, his night went from bad to worse. The headlining bout was won by Holloway in the third round, after a devastating combination. The victory was the first title win of the wild career of Blessed.
4 Yoel Romero vs. Luke Rockhold (UFC 221)
Luke Rockhold was scheduled to face Robert Whittaker for the undisputed middleweight title at UFC 221. However, when the champion pulled out on three weeks' notice, the bout was turned into an interim championship bout. Stepping in on short notice was Yoel Romero, who was fresh off a loss to Whittaker.
Romero's short notice likely played a role as he badly missed weight. The Cuban missed weight by 2.7 pounds but was able to turn around his fortunes on fight day. After going down two rounds, Romero blasted Rockhold out in the third round to secure a huge win.
3 Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero (UFC 225)
Yoel Romero is the only fighter to ever miss weight for a UFC title bout on two different occasions. Months after he missed weight for his interim title bout with Rockhold, he earned a shot at the undisputed champion Robert Whittaker. The bout was a rematch of their wild UFC 213 matchup, where Whittaker won by unanimous decision.
Romero missed weight by 0.2 pounds prior to the bout. Luckily, this one went ahead as a five-round non-title fight. In the end, Whittaker won the bout by split decision after 25 minutes of chaos in a fight regarded as one of the best middleweight matchups ever.
2 Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Joseph Benavidez (UFC Norfolk)
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In a bout that was set to determine the new UFC flyweight champion after Henry Cejudo vacated the title, Deiveson Figueiredo faced long-time contender Joseph Benavidez at UFC Norfolk. Sadly for fans, they would have to wait a little to see an actual champion, as the Brazilian missed weight by 2.5 pounds.
The bout still went ahead as a flyweight title fight for Benavidez, but it didn't matter as he got knocked out in round two. Luckily, the UFC wound up running a rematch with these two a few months later, and Figueiredo made weight. On the second attempt, he became UFC flyweight champion with a first-round submission win.
1 Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje (UFC 274)
UFC 274 saw a champion miss weight ahead of a title defense. Charles Oliveira was stripped of his lightweight title on weigh-in day, as he missed weight by .5 pounds. Gaethje made weight, so the fight went ahead as a title fight for him, but would be vacated if the Brazilian won.
In the end, the title would be vacant at the end of UFC 274. Oliveira knocked down Gaethje in the first and wound up submitting him via rear-naked choke. With the win, he proved he was the best lightweight on the planet but was titleless.
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