Charles Oliveira weighed in under the lightweight limit to ensure he can win back his lightweight belt when he takes on Islam Makhachev at UFC 280 tomorrow night.
The former champion was the first of the 24 fighters to step on the scales in Abu Dhabi this morning after his team had taken to social media to announce the Brazilian was on weight hours before the window opened. Oliveira was stripped of his title in May when he weighed in half a pound over the limit for his defence against Justin Gaethje.
But he made no mistake this time, scaling 154.5lb as his team cheered him on in the background. He was quickly followed by Makhachev who weighed exactly the same to ensure the fight goes ahead. The rivals will come face to face later this afternoon during the ceremonial weigh-ins.
Former bantamweight champion Petr Yan weighed in at 136lb for his fight with Sean O'Malley (135.5lb) with the winner expected to challenge for the title. That belt will be on the line in the co-main event when champion Aljamain Sterling takes on drug-cheat TJ Dillashaw with both men scaling 135lb.
Should Oliviera or Makhachev be ruled out of the fight over the next 24 hours, featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will step in and the Australian weighed in at 155lb to ensure he remains eligible.
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Oliveira is riding an 11-fight win streak having won the 155lb title by stopping Michael Chandler last year before making a successful defence against Dustin Poirier. Despite missing weight for his clash with Gaethje, Oliveira needed just 90 seconds to choke out his rival.
Makhachev has won his last 10 fights in the UFC since losing his second fight with the promotion in 2015. He faces his toughest test to date against Oliveira but will have former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in his corner.
