Georges St-Pierre Gives His Instant Reaction to Charles Oliveira’s UFC 274 Weight Mishap: “Might Have a Negative Effect on His Performance”
UFC icon Georges St-Pierre is no stranger to the ins and outs of the fight game and there is very little he hasn’t seen in his illustrious run at the top of the mountain. The former UFC welterweight champion stopped by Patrick Bet-David’s podcast and provided his instant reaction to Charles Oliveira’s weight miss at UFC 274.
Additionally, his reaction came just 20 minutes after the event transpired.
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
‘Do Bronx’ Oliveira weighed in 0.5 pounds over the allowed championship limit and has been officially stripped of his lightweight title. Justin Gaethje will be the only fighter who will be allowed to win the now vacant belt, thus making Oliveira engage in a number one contender’s match-up.
Georges St-Pierre gives Charles Oliveira the benefit of the doubt
Given his wealth of experience in the fight game, St-Pierre’s initial reaction wasn’t to criticize Oliveira for missing weight. While several fans and fighters jumped on the Brazilian, calling him ‘unprofessional’, Georges St-Pierre instead gave Oliveira the benefit of the doubt.
Per St-Pierre, there are a lot of extraneous circumstances that could have led to this unfortunate situation.
“It is disappointing but we don’t know the whole story. Maybe he got sick, maybe he got food poisoning. There’s a lot of x-factor. Sometimes we are tempted to judge something when we see the headline but don’t know the whole story. I don’t think it’s a lack of professionalism. You have to wait to have more data on what happened sometimes.”
“But I think in this situation, it might be more damageable for Oliveira because if he missed weight that means he tried to make weight, he push himself to the limit of dehydration. It might be that his body might be more messed up. If the fight goes longer, it might have a negative effect on his performance.”
St-Pierre’s views that Charles Oliveira might be coming into the fight somewhat compromised is certainly valid. Many fighters who have depleted themselves due to extreme weight cuts have looked like shadows of their former selves when it’s time to engage inside the octagon.
It remains to be seen if Charles Oliveira’s impressive 10 fight win streak comes to an end due to his botched weight cut.
