MMA
UFC 253: Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa make weight, then get into a scuffle
Everything appeared to be going to plan at Friday's UFC 253 weigh-ins as middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, and challenger Paulo Costa had successfully made weight. The only obligation left was a final staredown before they step foot inside the Octagon in the main event of UFC 253. Things ended up going in a different direction.
Costa, who weighed in first at the middleweight title limit at 185 pounds, made his way to the stage. Adesanya, who was one pound lower at 184 pounds, came up to the dais next. Both guys were standing next to UFC president Dana White to get ready for the faceoff when Costa, wearing a black belt around his waist, pulled out a white belt and threw it at Adesanya. The 185-pound titlist caught it, whipped it back at Costa but was caught by White. Costa lunged towards Adesanya, and both fighters had to be restrained by security.
In the co-main event for the vacant light heavyweight title, Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz came in at 205 pounds. The winner becomes the first person not named Jon Jones or Daniel Cormier since UFC 128 to be called the light heavyweight champion.
Two fighters ended up missing weight for their respective fights. Zubaira Tukhugov came in at 150 pounds, four pounds over the featherweight limit for his main card opener against Hakeem Dawodu, and Ludovit Klein weighed at 150, four pounds over the 145-pound limit for his preliminary card fight against Shane Young.
Here are the UFC 253 weigh-in results.
Main card
- Israel Adesanya (184) vs. Paulo Costa (185) for Adesanya's Middleweight title
- Jan Blachowicz (205) vs. Dominick Reyes (205) – for vacant Light Heavyweight title
- Kai Kara-France (126) vs. Brandon Royval (126); Flyweight
- Sijara Eubanks (136) vs. Ketlen Vieira (136); Women's Bantamweight
- Hakeem Dawodu (145) vs. Zubaira Tukhugov (150); Featherweight
Preliminary card
- Alex da Silva (156) vs. Brad Riddell (156); Lightweight
- Jake Matthews (170) vs. Diego Sanchez (170); Welterweight
- Ludovit Klein (150) vs. Shane Young (146); Featherweight
- Aleksa Camur (206) vs. William Knight (205); Light Heavyweight
- Juan Espino (255) vs. Jeff Hughes (258); Heavyweight
- Khadis Ibragimov (206) vs. Danilo Marques (206); Light Heavyweight
