UFC to Utilize Early Weigh-ins for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Ottawa

After positive reviews during a trial run at UFC 199, early weigh-ins will return at this week’s UFC Fight Night in Ottawa.

Sherdog.com confirmed the news with UFC Senior Vice President of Public Relations Dave Sholler on Tuesday following an initial report from MMAFighting.com.

On Friday, fighters competing at the event will weigh in at the fighter hotel between 9 a.m. and noon ET. The weigh-in show will take place at 5 p.m. ET, with official weights from earlier in the day announced when the fighters hit the stage. A similar situation occurred at UFC 199 in Los Angeles, where fighters weighed between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time before appearing at the weigh-in show.

Watch 100+ Channels On Pluto TV

The early weigh-in allows fighters a chance to rehydrate and eat following their weight cut, where in the past they would be forced to wait for hours to be transported to the venue to hit the scales for the weigh-in show. For further details, MMAFighting.com has in-depth explanation of the procedure, as developed by the California State Athletic Commission, here.

Sholler told Sherdog.com that the Las Vegas-based promotion is hoping to work with various athletic commissions to make the early weigh-ins a permanent fixture.

UFC Fight Night takes place at TD Place Arena in Ottawa and is headlined by a welterweight showdown between Rory MacDonald and Stephen Thompson. The main card airs on Fox Sports 1at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT. Preliminary bouts begin on UFC Fight Pass at 6:45 p.m. ET/3:45 p.m. ET and move to Fox Sports 2 at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT.

Update: The Ontario Office of the Athletics Commissioner provided a statement regarding early weigh-ins to Sherdog.com on Wednesday.

Under Ontario’s regulation for mixed martial arts, weigh-ins may be held anytime the day before the contest. The specific time of the weigh-in is determined by the Office of the Athletics Commissioner in collaboration with the promoter of the event.

The weigh-in time for the UFC Fight Night event was jointly agreed to by the UFC and the Office of the Athletics Commission. This is consistent with the recent experience and practice of the UFC in other jurisdictions such as California.