‘Unprofessional’ – Two UFC 323 fighters miss weight and receive instant fines – but bouts go on
Brunno Ferreira and Mairon Santos both missed weight at UFC 323’s official weigh-ins on Friday.
Middleweight Ferreira was the first fighter to come in overweight, hitting the scales at 189lbs – 3lbs above the weight limit for his division in a non-title fight.
Santos, meanwhile, wasn’t as far off making weight as he came in at 147.5lbs, just missing his featherweight limit of 146lbs.
Both Brazilians were slapped with an immediate 20 per cent purse fine.
If Ferreira and Santos are earning the minimum fighter pay of $12,500, this works out as a $2,500 fine for both men.
Sometimes, when fighters miss weight, their respective bouts are cancelled.
However, per UFC officials, both Ferreira and Santos remain on the Las Vegas card.
Reacting to the weight misses online, one fan labelled the fighters ‘unprofessional’ while another said it was ‘disappointing.’
Fight continues as planned
Ferreira, 33, faces No. 14-ranked middleweight Marvin Vettori at UFC 323 to try to break into the top 15.
‘The Hulk’ earned his UFC contract through Dana White‘s Contender Series in 2022 and is currently on a two-fight winning streak,
He takes on former UFC middleweight title challenger Vettori, who is looking to bounce back from a three-fight losing skid.
Santos, The Ultimate Fighter season 32 winner, contests the first fight of the night against Tajik featherweight Muhammad Naimov.
The 25-year-old is undefeated in Dana White’s promotion, having won his first two bouts this year by decision.
Every other athlete at the UFC 323 weigh-ins made weight, meaning the main event between Merab Dvalishvili and Petr Yan is official.
Who else is fighting at UFC 323?
Dvalishvili puts his bantamweight title on the line yet again in the headline act, having already defeated Yan in the UFC.
He has defeated Sean O’Malley twice, Umar Nurmagomedov and Cory Sandhagen in bantamweight title fights in the last 15 months.
Should ‘The Machine’ come out victorious at the T-Mobile Arena, he will be the first fighter in UFC history to make four title defences in one calendar year.
UFC 323 also features another title fight, as dominant flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja defends his belt against Joshua Van in the co-main event.
UFC 323: Dvalishvili vs Yan 2
Main card
- MAIN EVENT: Merab Dvalishvili (c) vs Petr Yan – For UFC Bantamweight Championship
- CO-MAIN EVENT: Alexandre Pantoja (c) vs Joshua Van – For UFC Flyweight Championship
- Brandon Moreno vs Tatsuro Taira – Flyweight
- Henry Cejudo vs Payton Talbott – Bantamweight
- Jan Blachowicz vs Bogdan Guskov – Light Heavyweight
Pantoja has been the champion at 125lbs since he outpointed Brandon Moreno, who also fights at UFC 323, in July 2023.
He has put on back-to-back dominant wins over Kai Asakura and Kai Kara-France in his last two bouts.
Van is the first fighter born in the 2000s to challenge for a UFC title.
The 24-year-old has rapidly climbed the flyweight rankings in 2025, securing a Fight of the Night, unanimous decision win over Brandon Royval in his last bout.
Also at UFC 323, Henry Cejudo, the only fighter to win a UFC title and Olympic gold medal, contests his last-ever MMA bout against rising talent Payton Talbott.
Moreno faces Tatsuro Taira to decide the next contender at flyweight, while Jan Blachowicz fights Bogdan Guskov also on the main card.
Scotland’s Chris Duncan is looking to make it four wins on the bounce when he faces UFC veteran Terrance McKinney in the prelims.
UFC 323 takes place on Saturday, with the main card scheduled to begin at 3am UK time.
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