UFC Beijing: Curtis Blaydes vs. Francis Ngannou official weigh-in results.
UFC Beijing is less than 24 hours away and for the most part, this card has gone hugely under promoted. It’s due in part to the Thanksgiving holiday and the fact that the entire card will air exclusively on UFC Fight Pass, a subscription service that quite a few UFC fans refuse to invest it. The card, which takes place on Saturday, Nov. 24 will also air in the middle of the night for most United States viewers to add more of a blockage for those casual fans. There will, of course, be devoted fans who will be staying up late into the night to watch, and for them, any news of the bouts is something to latch on to.
Unfortunately, weigh-ins didn’t go smoothly for all UFC Beijing fighters. Rashad Coulter weighed in at 208 pounds for his light heavyweight fight with Hu Yaozong. Coulter will be fined 20 percent of his purse, but the fight will still take place.
All other fighters made weight, including the main event — a heavyweight matchup between Curtis Blaydes and Francis Ngannou. This fight, a rematch of their 2016 showdown, has heavy implications for both fighters. Blaydes is looking to avenge the loss to Ngannou (his UFC debut) and propel himself closer to a shot at the title. Ngannou, on the other hand, is trying to avoid a three-fight losing streak which could mean disaster for his UFC career.
Another interesting matchup is between Sergey Pavlovich, who will be making his promotional debut against heavy-hitter Alistair Overeem.
This card is largely meant to test, and showcase local Chinese talent, many of whom North American fans won’t have heard of, but that doesn’t mean the card won’t be a barn burner. Those devoted may want to stay up late (or wake up early) to be introduced to the new fighters.
Here are the official weigh-in results:
Main card (UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 a.m. ET)
Curtis Blaydes (260) vs. Francis Ngannou (254)
Alistair Overeem (247) vs. Sergey Pavlovich (257)
Li Jingliang (171) vs. David Zawada (170)
Vince Morales (136) vs. Song Yadong (136)
Prelims (UFC Fight Pass at 3:15 a.m. ET)
Alex Morono (170.5) vs. Kenan Song (170)
Lauren Mueller (126) vs. Wu Yanan (126)
Rashad Coulter (208) vs. Hu Yaozong (205)
Jessica Aguilar (115) vs. Weili Zhang (116)
Martin Day (126) vs. Pingyuan Liu (135)
Syuri Kondo (115.5) vs. Yan Xiaonan (116)
Kevin Holland (186) vs. John Phillips (186)
Louis Smolka (135.5) vs. Sumudaerji (134.5)