One of the most anticipated fights on this weekend’s UFC 291 card is off.
At Friday’s UFC 30th Anniversary Q&A ahead of the UFC 291 ceremonial weigh-ins, promotion officials announced that Stephen Thompson vs. Michel Pereira was off the event. The main card welterweight fight was one of several fans were looking forward to, given the well-known creativity of both strikers.
Earlier on Friday, Pereira had missed weight for the fight. “Demolidor” hit the scales at 174 pounds, a full three pounds over the non-title welterweight limit. He did not look great doing so, but no word was given on whether the fight would move forward or not.
Per sources, a sticking point in the fight moving forward was the penalty sought by Thompson to face the overweight Brazilian. Thompson, 40, is 1-2 in his last three fights.
This is not the first time a fight between Thompson and Pereira has fallen apart. The pair were originally set to be part of UFC 289 in Vancouver last month, but the fight was pushed back for undisclosed reasons.
With the loss of Stephen Thompson vs. Michel Pereira, UFC 291 now moves forward with the following eleven fights:
- Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje — for the UFC “BMF” championship
- Jan Błachowicz vs. Alex Pereira
- Tony Ferguson vs. Bobby Green
- Michael Chiesa vs. Kevin Holland
- Gabriel Bonfim vs. Trevin Giles
- Derrick Lewis vs. Marcos Rogério de Lima
- Roman Kopylov vs. Claudio Ribeiro
- Jake Matthews vs. Darrius Flowers
- C.J. Vergara vs. Vinicius Salvador
- Matthew Semelsberger vs. Uroš Medic
- Miranda Maverick vs. Priscila Cachoeira
