UFC Sao Paulo: Ismael Bonfim vs. Vinc Pichel, Victor Hugo vs. Daniel Marcos scrapped after weight misses
The UFC’s return to Sao Paulo for the first time in nearly four years will go on with a couple fewer Brazilians than planned.
Two UFC Fight Night 231 bouts were canceled Friday following the event’s official weigh-ins, where four fighters missed their marks on their first attempts. Ultimately, three missed weight – which led to a pair of cancellations, the UFC announced.
Ismael Bonfim (19-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) was set to open the main card against Vinc Pichel (14-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) at lightweight. Bonfim came in at 159.5 pounds and didn’t attempt to cut additional weight. Pichel missed on his first attempt, too, at 157 – but used his extra hour to get official at 155.5. After that, though, the fight was scrapped.
Bonfim, from Brazil, was set to fight a few bouts before his brother, Gabriel Bonfim, a welterweight who takes on Nicolas Dalby in the co-main event. Bonfim and Dalby each made weight.
On the prelims, Brazil’s Victor Hugo (24-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) was set to make his UFC debut on less than three weeks’ notice against Daniel Marcos (15-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC). Marcos was 136 pounds, but Hugo came in at 138.5. He didn’t attempt to cut additional weight, and the bantamweight bout was scrapped after the weigh-ins.
With the changes, the UFC Fight Night 231 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 9 p.m. ET)
- Jailton Almeida vs. Derrick Lewis
- Gabriel Bonfim vs. Nicolas Dalby
- Don’Tale Mayes vs. Rodrigo Nascimento
- Caio Borralho vs. Abus Magomedov
- Armen Petrosyan vs. Rodolfo Vieira
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
- Elves Brener vs. Kaynan Kruschewsky – 165-pound contract weight
- Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Vitor Petrino
- Denise Gomes vs. Angela Hill
- Montserrat Conejo vs. Eduarda Moura – 119.5 catchweight (Moura missed weight)
- Marc Diakiese vs. Kaue Fernandes
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 231.