UFC 298 fight night weights revealed, Paulo Costa and Geoff Neal have stunning gains

The fight night weights for UFC 298 have been revealed.

In the state of California, the commission not only has official weigh-ins, but they also make the fighters weigh-in when they get to the arena in order to record their fight night weight. The commission uses the fight night weights to see how much fighters gain, and if a fighter gained more than 10 percent back before the bout, they may recommend the fighter to move up in weight.

MMA reporter Aaron Bronsteter was able to obtain the UFC 298 fight night weights from the California State Athletic Commission and 11 of the 24 fighters on the card gained more than 10 percent of their weight back.

Here are the fight day weights from UFC 298

Biggest gains by percentage (15+%):
Geoff Neal 170.5 ➡️ 200.8
Merab Dvalishvili 135.0 ➡️ 156.8
Carlos Vera 135.5 ➡️ 158.6
Danny Barlow 171.0 ➡️ 197.8
Paulo Costa 185.5 ➡️ 215.2
Ilia Topuria 144.5 ➡️ 167.2
Volkanovski 144.5 ➡️ 166.2 pic.twitter.com/vlDXbo9bs7

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) February 27, 2024

UFC 298 Fight Night Weights

Ilia Topuria (144.5 to 167.2 pounds = 16 percent)
Alexander Volkanovski: (145 to 166.2 pounds = 15 percent)

Robert Whittaker (185.5 to 207.6 pounds = 12 percent)
Paulo Costa (185.5 to 215.2 pounds = 16 percent)

Ian Machado Garry (170.5 to 180.6 pounds = 6 percent)
Geoff Neal (170.5 to 200.8 pounds = 18 percent)

Merab Dvalishvili (135 to 156.8 pounds = 16 percent)
Henry Cejudo (135 to 150.6 pounds = 12 percent)

Anthony Hernandez (185.5 to 203.6 pounds = 10 percent)
Roman Kopylov (185 to 194 pounds = 5 percent)

Amanda Lemos (115.5 to 123.8 pounds = 7 percent)
Mackenzie Dern (116 to 127 pounds = 9 percent)

Marcos Rogerio de Lima (261.5 to 273.4 pounds = 5 percent)
Junior Tafa (249 to 247 pounds = -1 percent)

Rinya Nakamura (135.5 to 147.2 = 9 percent)
Carlos Vera (135.5 to 158.6 pounds = 17 percent)

Zhang Minyang (204.5 to 230.2 pounds = 13 percent)
Brendson Ribeiro (205.5 to 219.6 pounds = 7 percent)

Danny Barlow (171 to 197.8 pounds = 16 percent)
Josh Quinland (169 to 187.8 pounds = 11 percent)

Oban Elliott (170.5 to 185.2 pounds = 9 percent)
Val Woodburn (169.5 to 184 pounds = 9 percent)

Miranda Maverick (126 to 135.8 pounds = 8 percent)
Andrea Lee (125.5 to 136.2 pounds = 9 percent)

One of the noticeable weight gains was from Paulo Costa who weighed 185.5lbs on Friday but on Saturday he weighed in a whopping 215.2lbs. However, Costa lost by decision to Robert Whittaker in a very entertaining bout.

Geoff Neal, meanwhile, went from 170.5lbs on Friday to 200.8lbs which was 20lbs more than Ian Machado Garry, but despite the difference in weight, Garry got the decision win.

Finally, one interesting one is Junior Tafa actually weighing less on Saturday than he did on Friday. Of course, he took the fight on Friday morning before UFC 298 so he likely had a big workout before the fight which is why he lost weight.