Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes are on the verge of finally resolving their contention in merely twenty-four hours.
Prior to their featherweight title main event rematch at UFC 325, both Volkanovski and Lopes successfully met the required weight for a UFC championship bout, with Volkanovski registering 144.5 pounds and Lopes reaching 145 pounds.
Volkanovski overcame Lopes by unanimous decision to claim a vacant championship at UFC 314 in April, establishing “The Great” as a two-time featherweight titleholder. Lopes subsequently faced Jean Silva the ensuing September, achieving an impressive knockout victory over Silva to maintain his standing among contenders and ultimately secure another opportunity against Volkanovski, who has not competed since their initial meeting.
The co-main event lightweights, Dan Hooker and Benoit Saint Denis, also successfully completed their weigh-ins, both utilizing the permissible one-pound flexibility for non-title matches and recording weights of 155.75 pounds.
Among the twenty-eight combatants scheduled for Saturday, Aaron Tau alone failed to meet the weight, and his situation was both peculiar and impactful. Tau was the final participant to appear at the scales, arriving approximately ninety minutes into the designated period. The Road to UFC flyweight tournament finalist disrobed and positioned himself behind a screen for his weigh-in, which the officiating body seemed to find challenging, taking several minutes to obtain a reading.
Astonishingly, Tau initially weighed significantly below the stipulated limit at 122.5 pounds. This promptly triggered doubts, leading to Tau being requested to re-weigh himself without the screen after getting dressed. His subsequent weight was 129 pounds. In an unusual turn, Tau transitioned from being 3.5 pounds below to three pounds above the non-title flyweight boundary.
Shortly thereafter, the UFC’s official morning weigh-in broadcast declared that Tau’s Road to UFC tournament final match against Namsrai Batbayar had been called off.
From their positions at the commentary desk, Chris Weidman and RJ Clifford pondered whether Tau, who was seen tensing muscles behind the screen during his weigh-in, might have been making contact with the sides of the partition using his elbows.
Form your own assessment.
Review the complete UFC 325 weigh-in outcomes listed here.
Primary Event Card (Viewable on Paramount+ starting 9 p.m. ET)
Alexander Volkanovski came in at 144.5 pounds for his match against Diego Lopes, who weighed 145 pounds.
Dan Hooker registered 155.75 pounds to compete with Benoit Saint Denis, who also hit 155.75 pounds.
Rafael Fiziev weighed 155.5 pounds in his encounter with Mauricio Ruffy, whose weight was 155.25 pounds.
Tai Tuivasa arrived at 265.5 pounds for his bout against Tallison Teixeira, who was 259 pounds.
Quillan Salkilld recorded 155.5 pounds for his fight with Jamie Mullarkey, also at 155.5 pounds.
Preliminary Matches (Streaming on Paramount+ from 7 p.m. ET)
Junior Tafa weighed in at 205.25 pounds, facing Billy Elekana, who registered 204 pounds.
Cameron Rowston recorded 184.5 pounds against Cody Brundage, who was 184.75 pounds.
Jacob Malkoun came in at 185.75 pounds to compete with Torrez Finney, who also weighed 185.75 pounds.
Jonathan Micallef weighed 170.5 pounds for his contest with Oban Elliott, whose weight was 169.75 pounds.
Initial Preliminary Bouts (Available via Paramount+ beginning 5 p.m. ET)
Kaan Ofli registered 145.25 pounds against Yizha, who weighed 145.5 pounds.
Sangwook Kim came in at 155.75 pounds for his matchup with Dom Mar Fan, who was 154.75 pounds — Road to UFC Lightweight Final
Keiichiro Nakamura weighed 145.25 pounds to face Sebastian Szalay, who registered 145.75 pounds — Road to UFC Featherweight Final
Sulangrangbo reached 135.75 pounds for his bout against Lawrence Lui, who was 135.25 pounds — Road to UFC Bantamweight Final
Aaron Tau recorded 129 pounds* for his contest against Namsrai Batbayar, who weighed 126 pounds — Road to UFC Flyweight Final
*Tau failed to make weight. Consequently, his tournament final encounter with Namsrai Batbayar has been called off.