Chute Boxe blames high altitude for Charles Oliveira, Felipe Arantes missing weight

Chute Boxe fighters Felipe Arantes and Charles Oliveira missed weight for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 98 in Mexico City, and their team is blaming Mexico City’s high altitude.

Arantes missed weight by two pounds for his bantamweight clash with Erik Perez, while Oliveira came in nine pounds over the featherweight limit on Friday morning for his 145-pound bout with Ricardo Lamas. Both fights will go on, but the Brazilians will forfeit a piece of their purses to their opponents.

Hours after the official weigh-in in Mexico City, elevation 7,380 feet, Chute Boxe released a statement explaining why both fighters failed to make weight for their fights. As for Oliveira, who have missed weight for the fourth time under the UFC banner, the team mentions the fact that he took the fight on less than a month’s notice.

"Our athlete Charles ‘do Bronx’ was invited to fight only three weeks ago," the statement read. "Even with the short period of recovery, the fighter proudly accepted another challenge to represent Brazil and the UFC. Unfortunately, he was hampered by his recent bout against Anthony Pettis, in August, and the high altitude of Mexico City, and didn’t make the weight. Nevertheless, ‘do Bronx’ is highly motivated and will fight normally, and will for sure give the fans a great fight."

Arantes, who missed weight for the first time in his UFC career, had trouble due to the high altitude and cramps, Chute Boxe explains.

"Felipe Arantes, on the other hand, was hampered by strong cramps in his leg, combined with his inexperience to compete in a city 2,250 meters above sea level, which didn’t allow him to continue the process of losing weight he started in Brazil, with multidisciplinary monitoring," the statement read. "Despite the problem, ‘Sertanejo’ is fine, recovered, and his fight is also confirmed. He will go after his third consecutive victory in the division."

UFC Fight Night 98 takes place at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City, and features former champion Rafael dos Anjos versus Tony Ferguson in the main event.