UFC Vegas 41 offered up a middleweight main event featuring two colorful fighters looking to get back in the win column.
Middleweight. Sort of.
Both Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori had come up short against middleweight champ Israel Adesanya. Coincidentally, those losses to “The Last Stylebender” had come in their most recent outings, with Vettori losing to Adesanya earlier this year, and Costa last September.
With the time off for Costa, Vettori would at least have the edge in activity. But he would also be a harder sell in terms of the title picture, having lost to Adesanya twice already.
That said, neither man would be in line for a title shot any time soon. UFC Vegas 41, rather, was about rebuilding for both men, with more wins necessary to work their way back to contention.
Then there was the aforementioned weight factor. Costa arrived at the UFC Vegas 41 Fight Week heavy, claiming to be in the neighborhood of 211lbs for the fight with Vettori. Costa immediately began calling for a catchweight; to his credit, Vettori said he’d take the fight even if it came at light heavyweight.
Come Thursday, a 195lb catchweight was agreed to. Costa was also fined 20% of his purse. And by the time Friday morning rolled around, the fight was moved to light heavyweight. Unbelievable.
The UFC Vegas 41 weigh-in was set to take place Friday in Las Vegas — check below for results.
Aside from the Costa issue, all fighters made weight on Friday.
UFC Vegas 41: Costa vs. Vettori Weigh-In Results
Main Card
Light heavyweight: Paulo Costa (204.5) vs. Marvin Vettori (204)
Lightweight: Grant Dawson (156) vs. Rick Glenn (155.5)
Women’s Bantamweight: Jessica-Rose Clark (135.5) vs. Joselyne Edwards (134.5)
Featherweight: Alex Caceres (146) vs. Seung Woo Choi (145.5)
Welterweight: Dwight Grant (170) vs. Francisco Trinaldo (169.5)
Light Heavyweight: Nicolae Negumereanu (204.5) vs. Ike Villanueva (205)
Preliminary card
Middleweight: Jun Yong Park (185.5) vs. Gregory Rodrigues (185.5)
Lightweight: David Onama (153.5) vs. Mason Jones (156)
Women’s Strawweight: Tabatha Ricci (115) vs. Maria de Oliveira Neta (115)
Middleweight: Jamie Pickett (184.5) vs. Laureano Staropoli (185.5)
Lightweight: Khama Worthy (155) vs. Jai Herbert (155)
Flyweight: Jeff Molina (125) vs. Daniel Lacerda (125)
Women’s Strawweight: Lívia Renata Souza (115) vs. Randa Markos (115)
Bantamweight: Jonathan Martinez (135) vs. Zviad Lazishvili (135)
