Former UFC fighter Ketlen Vieira explained her massive weight miss ahead of her fight against Cris Cyborg on Saturday at PFL Tampa.
Vieira stepped onto the scale on Friday at the official PFL Tampa weigh-ins at 152.5 lbs, a full 7.2 lbs over the PFL women’s featherweight title limit of 145 lbs.
Since Vieira missed weight, she is no longer eligible to win the PFL women’s featherweight title.
Considering Vieira was fighting at bantamweight (135 lbs) in the UFC, seeing her miss weight so egregiously was shocking, to say the least.
But the Brazilian says there is a reason why she missed weight so badly.
Ketlen Vieira Explains Weight Miss
After missing weight, Vieira sent a message to MMAFighting.com‘s Guilherme Cruz and explained what happened to her to miss weight so badly.
“I had severe pain in my kidneys and stomach since last night. I felt really sick throughout the entire night. Master ‘Dedé’ (coach Andre Pederneiras) slept in my bed with me, massaging my back so I could get some sleep. This morning, I felt sick again and had another severe episode. I can’t explain why this happened. I was doing well on weight, I’m a bantamweight fighter, and it had nothing to do with my weight. I was in a lot of pain, and ‘Dedé’ wouldn’t let me continue losing weight. I was doing well and sweating properly, but then I had this very severe episode, and (Pederneiras) chose to prioritize my health,” Vieira said.
Cyborg Reacts to Ketlen Vieira’s Weight Miss
The MMA legend Cyborg spoke to ESPN Brasil and reacted to Vieira’s massive weight miss.
“Today, when I went to weigh in, I found out that Ketlen wasn’t going to be able to make weight My team talked and checked how much weight she had actually come in at and everything. I don’t know what happened. I believe Pederneiras’ team is very professional and I’m not here to judge them, but she fought at 135, moved up to 145, and fought in May. And she was seven pounds over now. I think they were going to cancel the fight and everything, but there was a conversation to make sure the fight wouldn’t get canceled, and they reached a catchweight agreement. I’m happy that I made weight. I’m really happy that the fight is going to happen. A lot of things happened that could have prevented the fight from happening, but thankfully, everything worked out. Let’s go! Saturday, it’s on!” Cyborg said.
Although Cyborg is surely disappointed that her opponent missed weight, the good news is that the fight was salvaged, and we get to see the two Brazilian women go to war on Saturday night in the PFL Tampa headliner.
Cyborg, one of the greatest women’s MMA fighters of all time, has said that this could potentially be her final fight, but we’ll have to see how things play out, as the WMMA legend has said that she could potentially be open to continuing her fighting career depending on what happens.
Ketlen Vieira Explains Massive Weigh Miss at PFL Tampa