Update: Due to their opponents failing to weigh-in, Frevola
and Tsarukyan will now meet in a catchweight bout on the card.
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship puts on its first pay-per-view
of 2021, and its third card in eight days, on Saturday.
UFC 257 is headlined by the return of former two-weight
champion Conor
McGregor, who will take on a familiar foe in lightweight
contender Dustin
Poirier. The weigh-ins weren’t without drama as three fighters
failed to make contracted weight and the card had to be changed as
a result.
Both Ottman
Azaitar and Nasrat
Haqparast didn’t weigh-in at all and their respective bouts
against Matt
Frevola and Arman
Tsarukyan have been canceled as a result. Tsarukyan also blew
weight by coming over the lightweight limit by one pound.
McGregor (22-4) wants to finish “The Diamond” even quicker than he
did the first time. The two first met at UFC 178, where “Notorious”
knocked his opponent out in less than two minutes. Despite being
the sport’s biggest star, McGregor hasn’t been all that active in
mixed martial arts lately as his only fight since 2019 was a
40-second TKO over Donald
Cerrone. McGregor looked great on the scales for his first
lightweight bout since October 2018 and officially weighed in at
155 pounds.
Six years has passed since his loss to McGregor, and Poirier (26-6,
1 NC) has found plenty of success during that time span. Not only
did “The Diamond” win the interim lightweight title by dominating
Max
Holloway, he’s defeated many top names and former champions
including Eddie
Alvarez, Justin
Gaethje and Anthony
Pettis. Poirier looked prepared as always at the weigh-ins and
came in at 156 pounds.
UFC 257’s preliminary card begins at 6:15 p.m. ET/3:15 p.m. PT on
both ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass. Action will then switch over to just
ESPN+ starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The main card will stream
exclusively via ESPN+ pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
UFC 257 Weigh-in Results:
Conor
McGregor (155) vs. Dustin
Poirier (156)
Michael
Chandler (156) vs. Dan Hooker
(156)
Jessica
Eye (126) vs. Joanne
Calderwood (126)
Ottman
Azaitar (N/A)* vs. Matt
Frevola (155.5)
Marina
Rodriguez (116) vs. Amanda
Ribas (116)
Nasrat
Haqparast (N/A)** vs. Arman
Tsarukyan (157)***
Brad
Tavares (185.5) vs. Antonio
Carlos Jr. (185)
Sara
McMann (135) vs. Julianna
Pena (136)
Marcin
Prachnio (206) vs. Khalil
Rountree (206)
Makhmud
Muradov (186) vs. Andrew
Sanchez (186)
Nik
Lentz (150) vs. Movsar
Evloev (150)
Amir
Albazi (126) vs. Zhalgas
Zhumagulov (126)
*Azaitar failed to weigh-in and is out of his bout.
**Haqparast failed to weigh-in and is out of his bout
***Tsarukyan missed weight by 1 pound and has been fined a
percentage of his purse.