O'Malley, Vera both on weight for UFC 299 championship fight; one fighter misses

Marlon Vera’s face seemed to change from slightly apprehensive to relieved when his weight was read aloud Friday morning, as the UFC bantamweight title challenger successfully made the 135-pound limit on his first attempt. His UFC 299 championship bout with Sean O’Malley is official.

O'Malley, the reigning titleholder, had made weight approximately 45 minutes before Vera did, one day prior to their anticipated rematch. Vera is the only fighter to defeat O’Malley, a rising star who became champion last summer and is looking to make his first title defence. 

Vera beat O’Malley by technical knockout 3.5 years ago at UFC 252 in a fight during which O’Malley sustained a leg injury that contributed to the loss.

Merab Dvalishvili was pegged as the official backup fighter for the main event and the No. 1 contender, according to the official rankings, also weighed in at an even 135 pounds Friday morning to fulfill his requirement. If either headliner were to not be medically cleared then Dvalishvili is eligible to fight for the title on short notice.

Vera was one of the final fighters to step on the scale on Friday. Only one of the 28 fighters set to compete Saturday at Kaseya Center failed to make weight.

C.J. Vergara weighed in at 127 pounds, one pound heavier than the limit for a non-title flyweight bout.

Saturday’s event takes place in Miami and, according to the Florida Athletic Commission’s rules regarding fighters weighing in, athletes had to step on the scale between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET to avoid facing a fine or possibly being removed from the card. The commission then allows one additional hour for any athletes who fail to make their contracted weight on their first attempt, such as the case with Vergara.

In most other jurisdictions, mixed martial arts athletes typically have a more straightforward two-hour window to make weight the day before the event. Florida splits it into two distinct hours.

After his initial miss, Vergara had an hour to lose one additional pound but he was unable to do so. He will be fined 30 per cent of his purse, per promotion officials, but his bout with Asu Almabayev will still take place as scheduled.

The 30 per cent deduction is a slightly higher figure than it typically would be for a fighter missing weight by only one pound. That decision was made because this is the third time the 32-year-old has missed weight while under contract with the UFC. Vergara previously missed weight by 1.4 pounds and 3.0 pounds; he ended up losing both of those bouts.

Below are the official UFC 299 weigh-in results and projected bout order:

MAIN CARD

-- Sean O'Malley (135) vs. Marlon Vera (135)

-- Dustin Poirier (155) vs. Benoit Saint Denis (155)

-- Kevin Holland (170) vs. Michael Page (170)

-- Gilbert Burns (171) vs. Jack Della Maddalena (170)

-- Petr Yan (135) vs. Song Yadong (136)

PRELIMINARY CARD

-- Curtis Blaydes (257) vs. Jailton Almeida (241)

-- Katlyn Cerminara (125) vs. Maycee Barber (125)

-- Mateusz Gamrot (156) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (156)

-- Pedro Munhoz (135) vs. Kyler Phillips (135)

-- Ion Cutelaba (205) vs. Philipe Lins (206)

-- Michel Pereira (186) vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk (185)

-- Robelis Despaigne (261) vs. Josh Parisian (266)

-- C.J. Vergara (127*) vs. Assu Almabayev (126)     

-- Joanne Wood (125) vs. Maryna Moroz (126)