Johnson vs. Belfort is a go for UFC 142
Posted January 14, 2012 12:50 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A day after weighing in at 197 pounds for his middleweight (185-pound division) bout against Vitor Belfort at UFC 142, Anthony (Rumble) Johnson eventually made the required weight. Sort of.
Despite Johnson coming in 12 pounds overweight, Belfort agreed to take the bout with one stipulation. Johnson could weigh no more than 205 pounds come fight day.
Johnson weighed in at 204.2 pounds Saturday afternoon, so the co-main event will not be cancelled.
According to Johnson’s manager Glenn Robinson, Rumble was on target to make weight on Friday but three hours before weigh-ins (only needing to shed an additional 1.5 pounds) he began to feel ill. UFC doctors examined Johnson and forced him to take fluids, which made him gain weight so he was unable to lose the required weight in the allotted time.
UFC president Dana White was not sympathetic towards Johnson feeling ill on weigh-in day. “As a fighter, you are a professional,” White said on ufc.com.
“You are contracted to come in at a certain weight. This is not the first time this has happened with Johnson. He moved up to 185 pounds so this wouldn’t happen, and here we are in the same position again.”
Johnson had fought in the welterweight division 10 times, missing weight twice (at UFC 104 and UFC 76).
The 27-year-old forfeited 20 per cent of his purse to Belfort for coming in too heavy.
Johnson (10-3) is coming off a TKO win over Charlie Brenneman in October, while Belfort (20-9) is coming off a knockout win over Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133. The two men have a combined 21 wins that have come either by knockout or TKO.
UFC 142 is headlined by a featherweight title fight between Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes. London Ont.’s Sam Stout takes on Thaigo Tavares in a lightweight bout, while Oshawa Ont.’s Antonio Carvalho makes his promotional debut against fellow featherweight Felipe Arantes.
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