Vice president of regulatory affairs Marc Ratner explains “scale gate” controversy from UFC 274

By Harry Kettle - May 10, 2022

UFC VP of regulatory affairs Marc Ratner has given his thoughts on the scalegate controversy that impacted Charles Oliveira.

Charles-Oliveira

While a string of fighters may have had issues with the scales on Friday, the most notable incident came when Charles Oliveira failed to make weight at 155.5 pounds. After being given another hour to cut the final half-pound, the Brazilian could not get over the line and was ultimately forced to surrender the strap.

Now, the aforementioned Marc Ratner has explained what exactly went down.

“Well, first of all, let me say that the official scale, which is the one they weighed in on Friday with the athletic commission … 28 of the fighters made weight,” Ratner said. “So I’m very, very sure that there was nothing untoward on that scale. That scale was accurate.

“What people are talking about, the night before, there’s a scale where the fighters can come down and check their weight. Some fighters wanted to change the scale from pounds to kilograms, which you can do, and I think that may have knocked it – we don’t have any proof of anything, but it may have knocked the (practice) scale out of calibration. When we found out that there was a problem with the scale early on Friday morning somewhere around 8 or 8:30, we got another scale that was calibrated and put it out there.”

“I am not sure what time that Charles or his camp came down on Friday,” Ratner said. “But he’s saying that he checked the weight on Thursday night, and he was fine. But I can say for sure that Friday there was nothing wrong with the official scale.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

Oliveira went on to defeat Justin Gaethje in the main event of UFC 274 in Phoenix.

What are your thoughts on Charles Oliveira missing weight?

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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