‘It’s Ridiculous But Here I Am’- Justin Gaethje Won’t Let Charles Oliveira’s UFC 274 Weight Miss Derail His Focus
UFC 274 has suffered a major setback now that the title fight that headlines the card has been compromised to a certain degree. Charles Oliveira has been stripped of his lightweight belt after coming in over the weight limit at 155.5 pounds.
Despite making a second attempt to come in at championship weight, ‘Do Bronx’ still weighed in over the limit and will leave Arizona without the belt, even if he manages to defeat Justin Gaethje. However, if ‘The Highlight’ secures the win, he will be eligible to become the champion, as the belt has been officially vacated.
Charles Oliveira missed the 155-pound limit for his lightweight title fight after receiving an additional hour to lose .5 pounds and has been stripped of his title.
The #UFC274 main event will commence, but only Justin Gaethje has the opportunity to win the UFC title. pic.twitter.com/W7tc8ZCeZk
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 6, 2022
Justin Gaethje spoke out after his opponent missed weighed and he wasn’t too pleased with Oliveira’s professionalism for their title fight.
Justin Gaethje won’t lose focus due to Charles Oliveira’s weight miss
While Gaethje thought it to be ‘ridiculous’ that Oliveira missed weight for their title fight, he reaffirmed the fact that he was still as focused as ever. Considering the fact that he is still eligible to win the championship, there’s no reason for Gaethje’s motivation to take a nosedive.
He also doubled down on how he was looking to score the knockout regardless of whether ‘Do Bronx’ stepped in on the scale heavy or not.
“Same mission. That s*** doesn’t matter. It’s not going to affect one thing tomorrow night. I’m here to knock him out. I was here to knock him out before he didn’t make weight.
“I f****** think it’s ridiculous, but here I am. I’m going to knock his ass out. I promise you.” [h/t MMA Fighting.com]
Charles Oliveira has had an unfortunate history of missing weight and this has certainly been a hindrance to his overall legacy. His run at featherweight had several weight misses sprinkled in and that trend has seemingly continued at lightweight.
This weight miss is sure to give Oliveira’s future opponent a chance to continue calling him a ‘quitter’, a reputation that has fallen on his name. It remains to be seen if his motivation for the match-up is derailed now that he no longer has a chance to win the belt.
