Four fighters missed weight on Friday as UFC returns to the Apex with the first Paramount card from its home venue in Las Vegas.
Bantamweights Muin Gafurov and Gianni Vazquez each missed fight for separate fights, while opponents Eduarda Moura and Wang Cong also missed the limit.
The three fights affected by the weight misses will all proceed, although only Gafurov and Vazquez will be fined 25 percent of their purses. The fights will be contested under catchweights.
One week ago, there was a controversy related to Aaron Tau, who was scheduled to fight at UFC 325 in the Road to UFC flyweight final. He stepped onto the scale and was accused of putting weight on the towel to lower his weight (a technique popularized by Daniel Cormier for a fight with Anthony Johnson in April 2017). The fight was canceled due to the controversy, and Tau has been released by the promotion.
Saturday’s Fight Night card airs from the Apex with a bantamweight main event between Mario Bautista (16-3) and Vinicius Oliveira (23-3). Bautista was on an eight-fight winning streak in the division before losing to Umar Nurmagomedov last October at UFC 321. Oliveira came off Dana White’s Contender Series and won his first four fights in the promotion, most recently earning decisions against Said Nurmagomedov and Kyler Phillips last year.
Former RIZIN flyweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi (35-5, 1 NC) returned to the UFC last November and beat Tagir Ulabekov, and will look to build off that victory when he fights Amir Albasi (17-2). Albasi is 5-1 in the UFC’s 125-pound division and is coming off a decision loss to former champion Brandon Moreno in November 2024.
MAIN CARD (Saturday at 9 p.m. ET):
- Mario Bautista (135.5) vs. Vinicius Oliveira (136)
- Amir Albazi (125.5) vs. Kyoji Horiguchi (126)
- Jailton Almeida (241) vs. Rizvan Kuniev (264)
- Marc-Andre Barriault (184.5) vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk (186)
- Farid Basharat (136) vs. Jean Matsumoto (135.5)
- Julius Walker (206) vs. Dustin Jacoby (204.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD (6 p.m.):
- Alex Morono (170.5) vs. Danill Donchenko (170.5)
- Niko Price (171) vs. Nikolay Veretennikov (170.5)
- Ketlen Souza (115.5) vs. Bruna Brasil (116)
- Gianni Vazquez (141*) vs. Javid Basharat (135.5)
- Eduardo Moura (127*) vs. Wang Cong (127.5*)
- Muin Gafurov (141*) vs. Jakub Wiklacz (135.5)
- Priscila Cachoeira (135.5) vs. Klaudia Sygula (135.5)
*Missed weight
