The UFC is set for its first event in the United Arab Emirates in four years and heavyweight headliners Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Roy Nelson are ready following Thursday’s official weigh-ins.
Nogueira (34-8-1, 1 NC) stepped on the scale at 238 pounds and looks to rebound from a submission loss to Fabricio Werdum last June. Nelson (19-9) is also aiming to get back on the winning track; he came in at 255.5 pounds. The rotund knockout artist has lost two straight bouts.
In the co-main event, Clay Guida and Tatsuya Kawajiri were both on weight for their featherweight tilt. Kawajiri (33-7-2) is hoping to extend his current winning streak to seven, while Guida (30-11) tries to bounce back from a TKO loss to Chad Mendes. “The Carpenter”has lost three of his last four overall.
All other fighters competing on the card made weight.
The event takes place at the du Arena in Abu Dhabi and airs exclusively on UFC Fight Pass.
A middleweight bout between Andrew Craig and Chris Camozzi was pulled from the card prior to the weigh-ins. Craig is dealing with tonsillitis and was unable to fight. Both 185-pounders will be paid their show money, according to UFC officials.
“If you haven’t heard, my fight has been cancelled due to my opponent being sick,” Camozzi said in a post on Facebook. “Very disappointed and I was looking forward to fighting in Abu Dhabi.”
The card now has just eight scheduled bouts, which is the fewest number of fights at a UFC event since UFC 72 in June 2007.
Here are the full results from Thursday’s weigh-ins:
MAIN CARD (UFC Fight Pass at 2 p.m. EST)
— Roy Nelson (255.5) vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (238)
— Clay Guida (146) vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri (145)
— John Howard (171) vs. Ryan LaFlare (171)
— Beneil Dariush (155) vs. Ramsey Nijem (156)
PRELIMS (UFC Fight Pass at 11:50 a.m. EST)
— Daniel Omielanczuk (248) vs. Jared Rosholt (240)
— Thales Leites (185) vs. Trevor Smith (186)
— Jim Alers (145.5) vs. Alan Omer (146)
— Johnny Bedford (135) vs. Rani Yahya (135.5)
