There have been some updates regarding UFC Fight Night 231, which was scheduled to take place on Friday morning. This capital event in UFC’s return to São Paulo—the first since 2019—experienced a bit of a hiccup. Specifically, an unexpected challenge arose on the scales during the weigh-in. Interestingly, four fighters failed to make weight on their initial tries, an unusual occurrence in the world of combat sports.
Specifically, a lightweight match between Ismael Bonfim (weighing in at 159.5) and Vinc Pichel (at 157), saw both fighters initially overweight. Pichel managed to shed the excess and hit his appropriate mark, weighing in at 155.5 pounds. Bonfim, however, opted not to continue his weight-cutting efforts, leading to the cancellation of their fight. A similar issue arose in the bantamweight competition where Victor Hugo Silva sneaked over the weight limit, resulting in another fight cancellation—this one between Silva and Daniel Marcos.
Another notable occurrence was Eduarda Moura exceeding the strawweight limit by 3.5 pounds before her scheduled face-off with Montserrat Ruiz. Despite Moura’s weight issue, the match is still currently scheduled, with Moura incurring a 30% fine due to the weight discrepancy. Unfortunately, Bonfim’s decision not to cut weight further disrupted his plans to fight on the same card as his brother, Gabriel Bonfim. Instead, he will need to wait a while before making his return. On a lighter note, Pichel had been planning to maintain his streak of participating in exactly one UFC fight per year since 2019. Meanwhile, Hugo, coming off his contract-winning kneebar on Eduardo Torres Cant, showed that the one-month turnaround may not have been enough to make weight.
On the other hand, Marcos had been aiming to retain his undefeated record of 16-0. It is yet to be determined whether these cancelled matches will be rebooked at a later date or if the fighters will receive different opponents.