UFC 206 just hasn’t gone according to plan. Light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier was originally removed from the main event and new headliner, Anthony Pettis, failed to make weight at the weigh-ins on Friday.
“Showtime” weighed in three pounds over the 145 lbs limit but will still face the surging Max Holloway in an interim featherweight title bout in the main event.
Dana White, the UFC’s longtime head promoter, said Pettis did everything to prepare correctly but argues that he’s just too big and old to cut down to 145 lbs.
“I’m not happy, but listen, it happens,” UFC president Dana White said Friday on TSN SportsCentre. (h/t MMAFighting.com) “Believe me when I tell you, Anthony Pettis wanted to make weight. He’s been working for months for this day. He came in, when he landed here in Toronto, he was 10 pounds (over), so he should’ve made the weight. What that tells you is he’s too old and he’s too big to make that weight, is my opinion. So we’ll see where we go from here.”
Pettis, who originally made a name for himself in the lightweight division and captured both the WEC and UFC 155-pound titles, dropped down to featherweight after his third consecutive loss to Edson Barboza earlier this year.
The 29-year-old made weight and beat Charlies Oliveira in his FW debut at UFC on FOX 21, but looked incredibly gaunt and drained when he stepped onto the scales yesterday.
It was initially reported that Pettis wouldn’t be eligible for the interim featherweight title if he beats Holloway, but White says nothing is set in stone.
“If Pettis wins, I’ve got to decide if I want him to fight for the 145-pound (title),” the UFC president said. “I don’t know if he can make the weight.”
Holloway vs. Pettis will take place at UFC 206 later tonight, December 10, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
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