Cris Cyborg’s PFL Tampa championship fight has been ruined because his opponent lost a lot of weight. Saturday’s main event was going to be for Cyborg’s featherweight title, but challenger Ketlen Vieira weighed in at 152.2 pounds, seven pounds over the 145-pound limit for a championship fight. Cyborg shared a video of Vieira’s weighing mistake, which you can watch below. The fight will take place at a fixed weight, with Vieira, who recently parted ways with the UFC, losing a percentage of his purse as a penalty. Vieira is not eligible to win the featherweight title, but Cyborg agreed to vacate the title if Vieira is victorious. Cyborg later reacted to the situation, speaking with ESPN Brazil. “Today, when I went to weigh in, I found out that Ketlen wasn’t going to be able to make weight,” said Cyborg, translated from Portuguese to English via Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting. “My team talked and checked how much weight I had actually gained and everything. I don’t know what happened. I think [Andre] Pederneiras’ team is very professional and I’m not here to judge them, but she fought at 135, moved up to 145 and fought in May. And now I was seven pounds heavier. “I think they were going to cancel the fight and everything, but there was a conversation to make sure the fight wasn’t canceled, and they came to a catchweight deal. I’m happy that I made the weight. I’m very happy that the fight is going to happen. A lot of things happened that could have prevented the fight from happening, but fortunately, everything worked out. Come on! Saturday, it starts!” Vieira also issued the following statement to MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz, stating that his weight cutting problems were due to a sudden illness: “Since last night I had severe pains in my kidneys and stomach. I felt very bad all night. Master ‘Dedé’ slept with me in my bed, massaging my back so I could get some sleep. This morning I felt bad again and had another severe episode. I cannot explain why this happened. I was doing well in weight, I am a bantamweight fighter and It had nothing to do with my weight. I was in a lot of pain and ‘Dedé’ wouldn’t let me continue losing weight. I was fine and I was sweating profusely, but then I had this very serious episode and [Pederneiras] I chose to prioritize my health. See the official PFL Tampa weigh-in results below. Main card (ESPN, 9 p.m. ET) Cris Cyborg (145) vs. Ketlen Vieira (152.2) * Gadzhi Rabadanov (156) vs. Tracy Reeder (155) Taila Santos (125.6) vs. Sabrinna de Sousa (125) Luke Trainer (205.6) vs. Roland Dunlap (205.8) Preliminary card (ESPN app, 5:30 p.m. ET) Marcirley Alves (141.8 lbs)* vs. Nkosi Ndebele (140.4) Magomed Magomedov (136) vs. Daniel Marcos (135.6) Movsar Ibragimov (136) vs. Javid Basharat (136) Dakota Bush (155.8) vs. Morquez Forest (155.8) Natan Schulte (156) vs. Artur Zaynukov (155.6) Gino Van Steenis (156) vs. Robert Watley (155.4) Eoin Sheridan (170.8) vs. James Vake (170.8)
