Cris Cyborg’s PFL Tampa championship fight has been spoiled by her opponent badly missing weight.
Saturday’s main event was to be for Cyborg’s featherweight title, but challenger Ketlen Vieira weighed in at 152.2 pounds, seven pounds over the 145-pound limit for a championship bout.
Cyborg shared video of Vieira’s weigh-in gaffe, which you can see below.
The bout will proceed as a non-title affair at a catchweight, with Vieira, who recently parted ways with the UFC, forfeiting a percentage of her purse as penalty.
Cyborg later reacted to the situation, speaking to ESPN Brasil.
“Today, when I went to weigh in, I found out that Ketlen wasn’t going to be able to make weight,” Cyborg said, Portuguese-to-English translation via MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz. “My team talked and checked how much weight she had actually come in at and everything. I don’t know what happened. I believe [Andre] Pederneiras’ team is very professional and I’m not here to judge them, but she fought at 135, moved up to 145, and fought in May. And she was seven pounds over now.
“I think they were going to cancel the fight and everything, but there was a conversation to make sure the fight wouldn’t get canceled, and they reached a catchweight agreement. I’m happy that I made weight. I’m really happy that the fight is going to happen. A lot of things happened that could have prevented the fight from happening, but thankfully, everything worked out. Let’s go! Saturday, it’s on!”
Vieira also released the following statement to MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz, stating that her weight cut issues were due to a sudden illness:
I had severe pain in my kidneys and stomach since last night. I felt really sick throughout the entire night. Master ‘Dedé’ slept in my bed with me, massaging my back so I could get some sleep. This morning, I felt sick again and had another severe episode. I can’t explain why this happened. I was doing well on weight, I’m a bantamweight fighter, and it had nothing to do with my weight. I was in a lot of pain, and ‘Dedé’ wouldn’t let me continue losing weight. I was doing well and sweating properly, but then I had this very severe episode, and [Pederneiras] chose to prioritize my health.
See official PFL Tampa weigh-in results below.
Main Card (ESPN, 9 p.m. ET)
Cris Cyborg (145) vs. Ketlen Vieira (152.2)*
Gadzhi Rabadanov (156) vs. Tracy Reeder (155)
Taila Santos (125.6) vs. Sabrinna de Sousa (125)
Luke Trainer (205.6) vs. Roland Dunlap (205.8)
Preliminary Card (ESPN App, 5:30 p.m. ET)
Marcirley Alves (141.8 lbs)* vs. Nkosi Ndebele (140.4)
Magomed Magomedov (136) vs. Daniel Marcos (135.6)
Movsar Ibragimov (136) vs. Javid Basharat (136)
Dakota Bush (155.8) vs. Morquez Forest (155.8)
Natan Schulte (156) vs. Artur Zaynukov (155.6)
Gino Van Steenis (156) vs. Robert Watley (155.4)
Eoin Sheridan (170.8) vs. James Vake (170.8)
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