UFC News: Shocking Octagon Weights Revealed for UFC 298 Fighters

Several fighters added a significant amount of weight before they stepped into the Octagon.

The California State Athletic Commission has revealed the fight day weights for all 24 fighters who competed at UFC 298.

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The CSAC is already unique amongst most state athletic commissions for its practice of disclosing fight purses following events. It also requires fighters to step onto the scale on the day they compete rather than just on weigh-in day.

All UFC 298 fighters successfully made weight (although one bout was changed when Junior Tafa replaced his brother Justin), but the stats from fight day show that several fighters put on considerable weight before stepping into the octagon.

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

As noted by Aaron Bronsteter, numbers from the report include the staggering 30.3 lbs. Geoff Neal put back on before his losing effort against Ian Machado Garry, and Merab Dvalishvili also put on 21.8 lbs. ahead of his unanimous decision victory over former two-division champion Henry Cejudo.

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Ilia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski both weighed about the same ahead of their main event title fight, and that fact might bode well for newly-crowned featherweight champion Topuria considering his plans to pursue challenges outside of his current weight class.

Seeing what fighters weigh when they step into the Octagon is always intriguing given how controversial weight cutting in combat sports is, but unfortunately, the information is rarely disclosed with California being an infrequent stop for the UFC.

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