Brazil Star Charles Oliveira Loses UFC Title Belt Due to Weight Issues vs. Justin Gaethje

Brazil's fighter Charles Oliveira will have his UFC lightweight championship belt stripped after he missed the weight on Friday during UFC 274 weigh-ins.

Oliveira weighs 155.5 pounds, which is a pound over the limit for a lightweight title fight. ESPN reported that his title is now considered vacant, with Justin Gaethje, his opponent, the only person eligible to win the title.

It would have been Oliveira's second title defense.

The Brazilian fighter was weighed in with five minutes remaining in the initial weigh-in period. He was then given an additional hour to cut the half pound weight, but he missed it again after returning.

Meanwhile, Gaethje came in at 155 pounds and is a former interim champion. He unsuccessfully challenged Khabib Nurmagomedov for the title in 2020. It was Nurmagomediv's final fight before he retired.

Charles Oliveira's Weight in UFC

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has released a statement saying Oliveira remains the UFC lightweight champion. However, it would change upon the start of the Main Event headliner tomorrow night.

The fight will continue as scheduled, but the championship will only be on the line for Gaethje, according to a Sher Dog report.

UFC added in its statement that should Oliveira win, he will be the top contender for the vacant Lightweight Championship and will fight the next challenger for the undisputed title belt at a time, with the location to be determined.

Oliveira is reportedly the first defending champion to miss weight ahead of a championship fight. He will be the first to surrender his belt in such fashion.

Meanwhile, fellow UFC 274 fighter Ariane Carnelossi reached out to MMA Fighting to claim that the hotel scale had been reset overnight.

One UFC official allegedly reached out to all team to inform them that the scale was not showing the same weight as before, as reported by MMA Fighting.

Several sources in Phoenix for the event backed up the claims to MMA fighting, noting that the weight differential varied from 0.5 to two pounds.

Oliveira's head coach, Diego Lima, also complained about the hotel scale used. He said that they checked the Brazilian fighter's weight on the scale the organization left us and "everything was OK."

Lima added that when they checked Oliveira's weight in the morning, it was "off."

Oliveira's head coach maintained that the Lightweight champion made the weight well.

The UFC and Arizona Boxing & Mixed Martial Arts Commission did not comment on the allegations.

Gaethje reacted on social meda regarding the claims of Oliveira making the weight and the hotel scale being off.

Oliveira posted on Instagram a photo of him with all the fighters, saying that "the champion has one name," and that it was Charles Oliveira.

UFC 274

Strawweight champion Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza both made weight at 115 pounds, with their title match being a rematch of the first strawweight title fight in UFC history in 2014.

Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson also each made weight and both are in big need of a title belt.

Meanwhile, Norma Dumont missed weight, failing by half a pound to hit the featherweight limit. However, her fight against Macy Chiasson will continue.

UFC 274 will be on Saturday inside Footprint Center.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: UFC 274 Official Weigh-Ins: Charles Oliveira stripped of world title - from The MacLife