UFC 253 weigh-in results: All title fighters hit marks, but two come in heavy on 'Fight Island'
ABU DHABI – MMA Junkie was on scene and reporting live from Friday’s official UFC 253 fighter weigh-ins, where all but two fighters hit their marks for Saturday’s card.
In the main event, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (19-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) takes on fellow unbeaten challenger Paulo Costa (13-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC). Costa was first to weigh in during the two-hour window and was 185 on the nose. Adesanya stepped on the scale soon after and was a pound under at 184.
In the co-main event, Jan Blachowicz (26-8 MMA, 9-5 UFC) takes on recent title challenger Dominick Reyes (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) for the vacant light heavyweight title. Both fighters were 205 pounds. They’ll fight for the belt recently vacated by Jon Jones, who is moving up to heavyweight.
Two fighters missed weight for their bouts. Zubaira Tukhugov (19-4-1 MMA, 4-1-1 UFC) was 150 pounds, four pounds over the featherweight limit, for his main card opener against Hakeem Dawodu (11-1-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who was 145.
And Ludovit Klein (16-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) came in four pounds over the featherweight limit at 150 for his preliminary card fight against Shane Young (13-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC), who was 146. Tukhugov and Klein are expected to be fined a portion of their fight purses for the bouts to go on at a 150-pound catchweight.
The weigh-ins took place at the Flash Forum in at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. UFC 253 takes place Saturday at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
The full UFC 253 weigh-in results included:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Champ Israel Adesanya (184) vs. Paulo Costa (185) – for middleweight title
- Jan Blachowicz (205) vs. Dominick Reyes (205) – for vacant light heavyweight title
- Kai Kara-France (126) vs. Brandon Royval (126)
- Sijara Eubanks (136) vs. Ketlen Vieira (136)
- Hakeem Dawodu (145) vs. Zubaira Tukhugov (150)*
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN2, ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
- Alex da Silva (156) vs. Brad Riddell (156)
- Jake Matthews (170) vs. Diego Sanchez (170)
- Ludovit Klein (150)** vs. Shane Young (146)
- Aleksa Camur (206) vs. William Knight (205)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN2, ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)
- Juan Espino (255) vs. Jeff Hughes (258)
- Khadis Ibragimov (206) vs. Danilo Marques (206)
*Tukhugov missed the featherweight limit by 4 pounds. If Hakeem Dawodu agrees to the fight at a catchweight, Tukhugov will be fined a percentage of his purse.
**Klein missed the featherweight limit by 4 pounds. If Shane Young agrees to the fight at a catchweight, Klein will be fined a percentage of his purse.