UFC 325 fight cancelled on eve of card after controversial weigh-in leaves onlookers stunned

Jan 30, 2026 - 11:30

UFC 325 is down a fight following a highly controversial weight miss by Aaron Tau on Friday.

The Kiwi was due to face Namsrai Batbayar at flyweight on the early prelims of a stacked Sydney bill, headlined by a featherweight world title rematch between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes.

Tau missed weight by 3lbs after coming in below the limit moments before[/caption]

Tau was the last fighter to step on the scales, arriving 90 minutes into the official weigh-in window.

The 32-year-old did so behind a box and initially registered a weight of 122.5lbs.

He was then asked to weigh in again without a box, and to the collective surprise of everyone in attendance, Tau tipped the scales at 129lbs.

In a stunning turn of events, Tau had gone from being 3.5lbs under the non-title flyweight limit (126lbs) to 3lbs over it.

Baffled by the reading, the weigh-in show panel accused Tau of attempting the infamous Daniel Cormier towel trick.

“Did he do the DC?” quipped Chris Weidman. “Did he grab the towel?

“See, DC ruined it for everybody. You can’t cheat anymore.

“This is going to be a walk of shame; this is embarrassing.”

For context, Cormier sent the MMA world into a spiral in 2017 when he placed his hands on a towel to make weight at the second attempt for a light-heavyweight title defence against Anthony Johnson at UFC 210.

It’s hard to tell from the camera angle, but there is a chance Tau could have been resting his elbows on the box, which would explain the drastic fluctuation.

Batbayar made weight for the Road to UFC final[/caption]

But Tau’s weight-miss means the fight has been cancelled[/caption]

After the weight miss, UFC brass canned the fight, which was supposed to open up the card.

It remains unclear where Batbayar, who successfully made weight, will go from here.

Both men would have been competing for a multi-fight deal with MMA’s premier promotion in the ‘Road to UFC’ flyweight tournament final, a ‘win and advance’ competition for Asia Pacific prospects.

Tau beat Rio Tirto and Shuai Yin to advance to the finale, while Batbayar blasted away Wataru Yamauchi and Agulali.

Everyone else on the UFC 325 card made weight, and you can see all the results below…