Dana White has been told by fans that he must cut Diyar Nurgozhay after the undefeated prospect was way overweight for his UFC debut.
The light-heavyweight contender won his way into the promotion with a massive knockout win over Bartosz Szewczyk on Dana White’s Contender Series back in October. But he arrived on the scales for today’s event massively over the extended 206lb limit.
Now, fans want White to be ruthless and let him go from his contract before he even gets a chance to fight in the octagon. His opponent, Brendson Ribeiro, made weight as expected moments later and the fight is still happening.
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Diyar Nurgozhay misses weight for Brendson Ribeiro fight at UFC Vegas 104
On Friday afternoon, main event stars Marvin Vettori and Roman Dolidze comfortably made weight for UFC Vegas 104 as the first on the scale. Minutes later, Diyar Nurgozhay casually approached the scales and weighed in at 210.5lb for a 206lb fight.
For a few moments, it appeared that the fight might be in the balance as he didn’t even opt to use the towel or try to lose further pounds. However, when Ribeiro came in at 205.5lb, the pair agreed to continue on with the bout.
It is unclear as yet what percentage of Nurgozhay’s purse that Ribeiro will receive, but as is customary for a weight miss he was given the choice to continue on or not.
Fans implore Dana White to cut Diyar Nurgozhay after UFC Vegas 104 weight issue
After the fact, fans were infuriated by what had happened. Nurgozhay wasn’t the only fighter to miss weight for the card; Chidi Njokuani was 1.5lb over, while Josias Musasa was given another chance to lose the .5lb that he was over.
In comments on social media, multiple writers pushed for Dana White to get rid of the promotional newbie. One noted that “Bro gave zero f—s,” while another wrote: “Cut him now @danawhite completely unprofessional. Doesn’t deserve to fight in UFC.”
That seemed to be the consensus, with another commenter adding: “Cut him instantly, first day at work.. Give the other guy win money and move on.”