The UFC Saudi Arabia weigh-ins took place during the early hours of the morning with all 22 fighters hitting the scale.
This coming Saturday, the UFC returns to Saudi Arabia for the second time after holding its inaugural event in the Kingdom last year, with a middleweight main event between Israel Adesanya and Nassourdine Imavov.
The main event on Saturday night will mark the first time in six years that Adesanya will fight without a title on the line, spanning 12 fights.
‘The Russian Sniper’ on the other hand is hoping to put himself in title contention with the biggest win of his career thus far, looking to extend his unbeaten streak to five.
READ MORE: Israel Adesanya knocked out three men in one night as an 80-fight kickboxer before joining UFC
Israel Adesanya hits the scale following concerning weight miss comment
With the fight taking place in the Middle East, the official weigh-ins took place early this morning as all 22 fighters took to the scale to make the bouts official.
Early into the weigh-ins, featherweight, Lucas Alexander missed weight for his featherweight fight against Bogdan Grad, weighing in at 148.5lbs and he will now forfeit 30% of his purse to Grad.
This isn’t the first time the Brazilian has missed weight as he weighed in at 148lbs for his last featherweight fight against Jeka Saragih and will now likely be forced to move up to lightweight.
Mayra Bueno Silva and Jasmine Jasudavicius both successfully weighed in for the first female UFC fight in history to take place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
However, that wasn’t the biggest concern coming into the weigh-ins, as just hours before he was scheduled to step on the scale, ‘The Last Stylebender’ offered a concerning update on his social media.
“Am I gonna miss weight…” the former middleweight champion questioned.
Imavov held up his end of the bargain by weighing in first at 185lbs on the nose, leaving fans waiting for Adesanya to step onto the scale. Fortunately, though, the Nigerian stepped up shortly after, also hitting 185lb, making the main event official.
Shara Magomdov and Michael Page weigh-in for UFC Saudi Arabia co-main event
Fans are in for a tantalizing match-up in the co-main event as Shara ‘Bullet’ Magomedov welcomes Michael Page up to 185lbs for a striker’s delight.
This will mark the first time that ‘Venom’ Page has fought at middleweight and of course, he had no problems on the scale, hitting 185.5lbs.
Shara ‘Bullet’ also successfully weighed in at 185lbs, making the exciting co-main event official. The undefeated Russian is hopeful that with a win, he can secure himself a fight against Adesanya next.
Thankfully, there was only one weight miss from the 22 fighters in action and all 11 fights will go ahead as planned this Saturday night from the ANB Arena.