1 fighter on the map is missing weight

On By Littum

The UFC 309 main event is official, but one fighter missed the contracted weight Friday ahead of Saturday’s pay-per-view.

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones defends his title against Stipe Miocic on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. Both Jones and Miocic weighed well under the 265-pound limit for heavyweights.

Jones weighed in at a slim 237.6, and Miocic was 11 pounds heavier at 248.6. Heavyweight bouts are the only division where you will see such large differences in weigh-in totals.

The co-main event is also official, with Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler weighing in at 155.6 pounds. Their fight is a rematch and an early favorite to win Fight of the Night.

The fighter who missed weight is James Llontop. He is scheduled to compete against rising Brazilian star Mauricio Ruffy to open the main card. Ruffy is a lightweight and was originally scheduled to face Charlie Campbell on Saturday at 155 pounds.

Campbell was forced off through injury and Llontop stepped in as a late substitute. Because he had not had the opportunity to begin his weight loss in normal anticipation of the fight, Luffy and Llontop agreed on a catchweight of 165 pounds.

Unfortunately, Llontop still lost weight by 1.2 pounds and weighed 166.2. There is no one-pound grace for catchweight fights. Llontop didn’t look stable on the scale or when he walked off the stage.

Sportsnet’s Aaron Bronsteter posted a video of Llontop’s weight loss.

The Luffy-Llontop fight will still take place, barring some complications between Friday morning and fight night. Llontop almost certainly won’t miss the payday and the opportunity to perform at MSG in front of a pay-per-view crowd. Luffy went through a full camp and his career is on the rise and he will definitely struggle to keep his momentum going.

Here’s a look at the official weigh-in results for each fighter on the card.

UFC 309 official weigh-in results

  • Main Event – Heavyweight Title Fight: Jon Jones (237.6) vs Stipe Miocic (248.6)
  • Co-Main Event – Lightweight bout: Charles Oliveira (155.6) vs Michael Chandler (155.6)
  • Middleweight bout: Bo Nickal (185.4) vs Paul Craig (186)
  • Women’s flyweight bout: Viviane Araujo (125.6) vs Karine Silva (125.8)
  • Catchweight bout (165-lbs): Mauricio Ruffy (164.4) vs James Llontop (166.2)*
  • Bantamweight bout: Jonathan Martinez (135.8) vs Marcus McGhee (135.6)
  • Middleweight fight: Chris Weidman (186) vs Eryk Anders (185.6)
  • Lightweight bout: Jim Miller (155.6) vs. Damon Jackson (155.2)
  • Lightweight bout: David Onama (155.6) vs Roberto Romero (155)
  • Heavyweight bout: Marcin Tybura (251) vs Jhonata Diniz (253.2)
  • Welterweight bout: Mickey Gall (170.8) vs Ramiz Brahimaj (170.2)
  • Welterweight bout: Bassil Hafez (171) vs Oban Elliott (170)
  • Women’s flyweight bout: Veronica Hardy (125.8) vs Eduarda Moura (125.2)

UFC 309 – How to watch

The card begins on Saturday, November 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, with the main card at 10:00 PM ET on ESPN+ PPV.

You can watch the prelims on FX, Hulu, ESPNNEWS and ESPN Deportes on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET. The early prelude starts at 6 PM ET on ESPN+ and UFC FightPass.

I offer post-event coverage on Saturday night, which wraps up a huge weekend of martial arts.