Miesha Tate barely makes weight; Lesnar, Hunt cleared for UFC 200

MANILA, Philippines – The Ultimate Fighting Championship narrowly avoided having a third UFC 200 main event cancelled when Miesha Tate made weight on Friday, July 8 (Saturday Manila time) for her bantamweight title fight against Amanda Nunes.  

Tate almost missed the two-hour window to make weight and had to remove every garment of clothing to tip the scales at 134.5 pounds. Nunes checked in at exactly 135 pounds. According to UFC spokesperson Dave Lockett, the scheduled 5-round championship clash would have been called off if Tate missed the deadline.

Early #UFC200 weigh-in results: Chanp Miesha Tate (134.5) https://t.co/ftPvtj3bfo pic.twitter.com/WhAT99jMR9

— MMAjunkie (@MMAjunkie) July 8, 2016

The event will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday local time.

The world’s premier mixed martial arts organization has implemented a morning weigh-in procedure, which gained approval from most fighters and camps as athletes have a longer amount of time to rehydrate before the fight and do not need to sit dehydrated while waiting for the televised weigh-in festivities to begin. 

The Tate-Nunes encounter has been elevated to the UFC 200 top bill after the second light heavyweight title encounter between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones was cancelled.

Jones was notified of a potential anti-doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition drug test administered by the United States Anti-Doping Agency on June 16. 

UFC officials found a short-notice opponent for Cormier as former middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva stepped in to take Jones’ spot and face the reigning light heavyweight champion in a 3-round non-title bout.

Silva, who has fought twice at 205 pounds by defeating Forrest Griffin in August 2009 and Stephan Bonnar in October 2012, came in at 198.5 pound.

On the other hand, Cormier will be the bigger man inside the Octagon on fight night as he met the allowable non-title limit of 206 pounds.

The UFC 200 pay-per-view card will likewise feature the return of Brock Lesnar, who is set to square off with Mark Hunt.

Lesnar weighed 265.5 pounds to get the clearance to battle Hunt, who stepped on the weighing scale at 264.5 pounds. 

Also highlighted at UFC 200 is Jose Aldo (145 pounds), who goes head-to-head with Frankie Edgar (144.5 pounds) in a rematch for the interim UFC featherweight championship. 

Two-time heavyweight titleholder Cain Velasquez (242.5 pounds) will lock horns with Travis Browne (244 pounds), while a potential female bantamweight title eliminator headlines the FOX Sports 1 preliminary card as Cat Zingano (135.5 pounds) dances with Julianna Pena (135.5 pounds). 

The 3-round welterweight tussle between Kelvin Gastelum and Johny Hendricks was cleared to push through even though the latter missed weight at 171.25 pounds and had to forfeit 20 percent of his fight purse to Gastelum. 

In other marquee match-ups, ex-bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw (136 pounds) crosses paths once more with perennial division contender Raphael Assuncao (135.5 pounds). 

Highly-touted prospect Sage Northcutt (156 pounds) meets Enrique Marin (156 pounds) in a 3-round lightweight showdown. 

Diego Sanchez (155 pounds) tests his mettle versus Joe Lauzon (156 pounds) in a battle of “The Ultimate Fighter” alumni. 

Gegard Mousasi (185.5 pounds) plans to make it two in a row at the expense of Thiago Santos (186 pounds), while Jim Miller (155.5 pounds) kicks off the event on UFC Fight Pass against Takanori Gomi (156 pounds). 

The numbers from the early weigh-ins will be used at the pre-fight extravaganza, where traditional staredowns and interviews are the main focus. – Rappler.com