The UFC returns to Charlotte, North Carolina this Saturday, while returning to broadcast network ABC for the fourth time with a heavyweight main event scheduled to cap off the night.
UFC Charlotte will see Jairzinho Rozenstruik, ranked #9 in the weight class, paired up with #12-ranked Jailton Almeida for five rounds or less — and with these two particular fighters, less is likely. “Bigi Boy” Rozenstruik was blunt, however, at Wednesday’s media day, admitting that he didn’t want to take the fight because of Almeida’s lower ranking.
The UFC got their way, however, and Rozenstruik vs. Almeida headlines over Anthony Smith vs. Johnny Walker, a battle of ranked light heavyweights that briefly held main event status.
Also featured on the UFC Charlotte card, Ian “The Future” Garry looks to extend his perfect, 11-0 record against Daniel Rodriguez, while veteran Tim Means is paired up with Alex Morono. And capping off the preliminary card, another vet, Matt Brown, meets TUF winner Court McGee.
Weigh-ins for UFC Charlotte go down Friday, full results can be found below.
During Friday morning’s weigh-in window, promotion officials announced that the lightweight bout between Natan Levy and Pete Rodriguez was cancelled, due to weight management issues on the part of Rodriguez.
Two fighters were heavy on Friday, meanwhile. Bryan Battle was 2lbs over the welterweight limit, while Daniel Rodriguez came in 0.5lbs over for his fight with Ian Garry, also at welterweight.
Rodriguez, given an additional hour to cut, successfully made weight, championship weight in fact.
UFC Charlotte: Rozenstruik vs. Almeida Weigh-In Results
Main Card
Heavyweight: Jairzinho Rozenstruik (265) vs. Jailton Almeida (231)
Light Heavyweight: Anthony Smith (205.5) vs. Johnny Walker (205.5)
Welterweight: Daniel Rodriguez (170)** vs. Ian Garry (170.5)
Light Heavyweight: Carlos Ulberg (204.5) vs. Ihor Potieria (204.5)
Welterweight: Alex Morono (169.5) vs. Tim Means (170.5)
Preliminary Card
Welterweight: Matt Brown (170) vs. Court McGee (170.5)
Heavyweight: Karl Williams (239.5) vs. Chase Sherman (254)
Catchweight (140lb): Cody Stamann (139) vs. Douglas Silva de Andrade (139.5)
Lightweight: Natan Levy vs. Pete Rodriguez
Women’s Flyweight: Kim Ji-yeon (126) vs. Mandy Böhm (126)
Welterweight: Bryan Battle (173)* vs. Gabriel Green (170.5)
Women’s Bantamweight: Jessica-Rose Clark (135.5) vs. Tainara Lisboa (134)
* Bryan Battle weighed in 2lb over the non-title welterweight limit
** Daniel Rodriguez weighed in 0.5lbs over the non-title welterweight limit, at 171.5 – he was given an additional hour to cut weight, and made 170 on his second attempt.
