Initially, it looked as though a whopping three fighters had missed weight for Saturday’s UFC Sao Paulo card, including bantamweight opponents Tracy Cortez and Vanessa Melo.
After the weigh-ins had wrapped up, however, the Comissao Atletica Brasileira de MMA (CABMMA) announced that the scale was not properly calibrated for the UFC Sao Paulo weigh-ins and that a correction had been made. As a result, Tracy Cortez and Vanessa Melo’s weights were adjusted to 136 pounds apiece.
The CABMAA commented on this UFC Sao Paulo weigh-in blunder in a statement to MMA Junkie:
“CABMMA reviewed the incident between the athletes Vanessa Melo and Tracy Cortez. Both were checked by the commission with 20 minutes left to the ending time of the official weigh-ins. Scale used by the commission was 0.7lbs above the official scale, which indicated that the athletes could not lose any more weight in the remaining time. Athletes were then withdrawn from the cutting process.
“CABMMA physicians evaluated the athletes and considered both in well conditions but were not given the extra hour, which per guideline is only for main event and title bouts.
“Considering the fact that (i) fighters were checked in a scale which was not calibrated as the official one; (ii) commission was misguided by the wrong weight and conducted their guideline on an incorrect data; and (iii) since the difference between the scales was off by 0.7lbs and both athletes made the exact weight on the official scale, CABMMA will consider their official weight as 136lbs.
“In that sense, the athletes will not suffer any fine (or) penalty, and have their records maintained. To CABMMA’s understanding, weight classes are designed for safety and fairness, not a strict rule that prevents these goals.”
What do you think of this unfortunate situation at the UFC Sao Paulo weigh-ins?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/14/2019.