UFC 254 will go down Saturday (with prelims starting at 10:15 AM ET), and as of Friday’s official weigh-in, the card is set. Khabib Nurmagomedov opened the affair, stepping on the scale first and hitting championship weight, albeit behind a towel. From there, the rest of the card, from Sam Alvey, to Khabib’s opponent Justin Gaethje, to heavyweights Stefan Struve and Tai Tuivasa weighed in.
There were two misses at the scales ahead of UFC 254, as both Joel Alvarez and Alex Oliveira came in heavy for their respective bouts. But both fights (Alvarez faces Alexander Yakovlev at lightweight, Oliveira is up against Shavkat Rakhmonov at welterweight) will move forward.
Realistically, however, UFC 254 is about one fight. The Khabib vs. Gaethje main event. In an era where cards are stacked with two or sometimes three title fights, the promotion is no doubt well aware of the interest in this lightweight title unification fight. Interim champ Gaethje is seen by many to have the kryptonite to Nurmagomedov’s dominance — a background in freestyle and folkstyle wrestling, which he has rarely had to actually use over the years.
Gaethje’s heart and hands have got him to the top, will his wrestling help him climb the final few steps to the very peak of the mountain? Or will Khabib do what he has done to 28 others, simply dominate?
We’ll find out come Saturday. In the meantime, video of the weigh-ins and face-offs from UFC 254 can be found in the embeds above and below, respectively. For weigh-in results, check our results page.
