LAS VEGAS — UFC 200 nearly lost another main event.
Miesha Tate almost missed the two-hour window to weigh-in Friday morning here at the Monte Carlo. If Tate would have checked in after 10 a.m. PT, her main event title fight with Amanda Nunes would have been called off, per UFC spokesperson Dave Lockett. Tate hit the scale and made weight (134.5 pounds) at about 10:02 a.m.
Kelvin Gastelum and Johny Hendricks also narrowly made the window between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Hendricks missed weight at 171.25 pounds and has to forfeit 20 percent of his fight purse to Gastelum. Gastelum made weight at 171 pounds. Both weighed in before Tate, just before 10 a.m.
This is a brand new morning weigh-in procedure being used for the first time in Nevada and details like this are still being hammered out. The UFC petitioned the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) for early weigh-ins, because they benefit the health and safety of fighters. The NAC approved the procedure last month.
Nevada Athletic Commission executive director Bob Bennett said if Tate or any other fighter missed the two-hour window, that would be something he and his team would discuss with the UFC and hope to resolve. However, if a fighter missed the two-hour window and then missed weight as well, the fight would likely be off, he said.
"It's incumbent on the UFC, it's their responsibility to get their fighters there within that amount of time," Bennett said.
No one else missed weight Friday morning. The fighters will still attend a ceremonial weigh-in for television broadcasts Friday afternoon where these official weights will be announced.
The UFC has already used the morning weigh-in procedure in Los Angeles and Ottawa. The plan is to continue using it all summer, including stops in Chicago, Vancouver and Atlanta, according to UFC vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky.
The early weigh-ins have been met with nearly universal approval by fighters and teams. Athletes now have a longer amount of time to rehydrate before the fight and don't have to sit dehydrated waiting for the TV weigh-in show to begin.
UFC 200 lost its original main event this week when Jon Jones was flagged by USADA for a failed out-of-competition drug test. Jones' would-be opponent Daniel Cormier will now face Anderson Silva in a non-title bout. The women's bantamweight title fight between Tate and Nunes is now the main event and Brock Lesnar vs. Mark Hunt is the co-main.
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