Jan Blachowicz and Aleksandar Rakic are set for a pivotal light heavyweight bout.
The 205-pound contenders — Blachowicz is currently No. 4 and Rakic is No. 6 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings — both successfully made weight at Friday’s official weigh-ins for the light heavyweight main event of UFC Vegas 54. Blachowicz, the former UFC champion, came in at 205.5 pounds, while Rakic weighed in at 205 pounds on the dot.
This is Blachowicz’s first fight since losing his UFC title to Glover Teixeira at UFC 267 last October. That loss halted a five-fight win streak for the Polish standout.
Rakic is coming off of a unanimous decision win over one-time title challenger Thiago Santos at UFC 259 in March 2021. He has won two straight fights and his UFC record currently stands at 6-1.
Also of note, light heavyweights Ryan Spann (206) and Ion Cutelaba (205) successfully made weight, as did longtime contender Katlyn Chookagian (125.5), who faces strawweight contender Amanda Ribas (125.5) in a flyweight bout.
Carlos Candelario was the lone fighter to have issues at the scale as he came in 0.5 pounds over the flyweight limit for his UFC debut against Tatsuro Taira on the preliminary portion of Saturday’s card. He was given additional time to attempt to make weight and the status of the bout is still to be determined.
Check out UFC Vegas 54 weigh-in results below.
Main Card (ESPN 2, ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET)
Jan Blachowicz (205.5) vs. Aleksandar Rakic (205)
Ryan Spann (206) vs. Ion Cutelaba (205)
Davey Grant (135.5) vs. Louis Smolka (136)
Katlyn Chookagian (125.5) vs. Amanda Ribas (125.5)
Frank Camacho (155) vs. Manuel Torres (155.5)
Jake Hadley (125.5) vs. Allan Nascimento (125.5)
Preliminary Card (ESPN, ESPN+ at 7:30 p.m. ET)
Viviane Araujo (125) vs. Andrea Lee (125)
Michael Johnson (155) vs. Alan Patrick (156)
Virna Jandiroba (115) vs. Angela Hill (115.5)
Tatsuro Taira (125) vs. Carlos Candelario (126)*
Nick Maximov (184.5) vs. Andre Petroski (185)
*Candelario weighed in 0.5 pounds over the flyweight limit on his first attempt. He was given an extra hour to make weight and successfully weighed in at 126 pounds
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