The Reaper returns!
@RobWhittakerMMA
checks in for
#UFCVegas24. pic.twitter.com/iVWvCvRk0W— UFC (@ufc)
April 16, 2021
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. A middleweight clash with potential title implications is
set after the
UFC on ESPN 22 weigh-ins took place, but the story coming out
of it was Zarah
Fairn dos Santos‘ enormous weight miss.
Saturday’s card is headlined by former
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight king Robert
Whittaker taking on former top contender Kelvin
Gastelum. Both main event fighters had zero issues making
weight, although the same couldn’t be said for the rest of the
card. Fairn dos Santos didn’t even make featherweight for her
139-pound catchweight bout against Josiane
Nunes as she came in at 147 pounds, and the bout has been
canceled as a result. Tracy
Cortez also had weight management issues, although not as
severe, as she came in half a pound over the flyweight limit and
she has been given one extra hour to make weight.
Australia’s Whittaker (22-5) has bounced back nicely since getting
dethroned by Israel
Adesanya. “Bobby Knuckles” has picked up two decision wins over
contenders Darren Till
and Jared
Cannonier to put him back in the title picture. A win here
would make it three in a row and potentially put him into a rematch
for the title he previously held. Whittaker stepped on the scales
at 185.5 pounds.
Replacing Paulo Costa
is Gastelum (16-6, 1 NC). The former title challenger was meant to
face Whittaker at UFC
234, but Whittaker suffered a collapsed bowel that led to
emergency surgery the day of the fight. Gastelum would lose to
Adesanya in a five-round battle for the interim belt, then
struggled against Till and was tapped by Jack
Hermansson in his next two outings. Most recently, Gastelum
snapped out his three-fight skid by defeating Ian
Heinisch. Gastelum officially weighed 185 pounds on the
dot.
The UFC on ESPN 22 main card will air at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on
ESPN, while the prelims starting at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT will air
both on ESPN and ESPN+.
UFC on ESPN 22 Weigh-in Results:
Robert
Whittaker (185.5) vs. Kelvin
Gastelum (185)
Jeremy
Stephens (156) vs. Drakkar
Klose (156)
Andrei
Arlovski (250.5) vs. Chase
Sherman (251)
Abdul
Razak Alhassan (185.5) vs. Jacob
Malkoun (185.5)
Luis
Pena (155) vs. Alex Munoz
(155.5)
Tracy
Cortez (126.5)* vs. Justine
Kish (125.5)
Alexander
Romanov (264) vs. Juan Espino
(257)
Jessica
Penne (116) vs. Lupita
Godinez (116)
Gerald
Meerschaert (185.5) vs. Bartosz
Fabinski (184.5)
Dakota
Bush (155.5) vs. Austin
Hubbard (156)
Zarah
Fairn dos Santos (147)** vs. Josiane
Nunes (136)
Tony
Gravely (135.5) vs. Anthony
Birchak (135.5)
* Cortez missed weight by .5 pounds and has been granted an
additional hour to make weight.
** Fairn dos Santos missed weight by 7 pounds and the fight has
been canceled.
