The weigh-ins took place at the UFC host hotel in Houston. The nearby Toyota Center hosts Saturday’s event, which has a main card on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
The preliminary card bout between Alex Perez and Matt Schnell was canceled after the former missed weight by two pounds. A UFC official informed MMA Junkie the cancellation came after Schnell declined to partake in a bout in which Perez missed weight. The cancellation marks the fourth time the matchup has been scheduled and canceled – with numerous cancellations occurring during fight weeks.
William Knight also missed the mark, but by a much wider margin. For a light heavyweight bout, Knight weighed 218 pounds – 12 pounds over the light heavyweight limit. As a result, he forfeited 40 percent of his purse and his bout vs. Maxim Grishin was elevated to heavyweight.
Among those who made weight were middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (21-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) and former champ Robert Whittaker (23-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC), who were among the first to hit the scales.
In addition, home city Houston fan favorite Derrick Lewis (26-8 MMA, 17-6 UFC) takes on Tai Tuivasa (14-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) at heavyweight and Derek Brunson (23-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) fights Jared Cannonier (14-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) in a key middleweight bout. All four of those athletes made weight, too.
The full UFC 271 weigh-in results bellow:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Champ Israel Adesanya (184) vs. Robert Whittaker (184) – for middleweight title
- Derrick Lewis (266) vs. Tai Tuivasa (265)
- Derek Brunson (185.5) vs. Jared Cannonier (185)
- Kyler Phillips (136) vs. Marcelo Rojo (136)
- Bobby Green (155.5) vs. Nasrat Haqparast (156)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
- Andrei Arlovski (246) vs. Jared Vanderaa (265)
- Roxanne Modafferi (126) vs. Casey O’Neill (125.5)
- Alex Perez (128)* vs. Matt Schnell (126)
- Maxim Grishin (206) vs. William Knight (218)**
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
- Ronnie Lawrence (136) vs. Mana Martinez (136)
- Alexander Hernandez (156) vs. Renato Moicano (156)
- Fabio Cherant (206) vs. Carlos Ulberg (204)
- AJ Dobson (185) vs. Jacob Malkoun (186)
- Douglas Silva de Andrade (136) vs. Sergey Morozov (135)
- Blood Diamond (170) vs. Jeremiah Wells (170.5)
= Perez missed weight class limit by 2 pounds; the bout was later canceled
** = Knight missed weight by 12 pounds; as a result, the bout was shifted to the heavyweight division