The UFC returns to Sao Paulo, Brazil, this week for its twenty-second UFC on ESPN+ event, featuring a light heavyweight showdown between Jan Blachowicz and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. The fight card is set following Friday’s official weigh-in, although three prelim fighters failed to make weight.
Blachowicz was gunning for a title shot, but ran into a stumbling block when Thiago Santos defeated him early in 2019. He rebounded with a brutal knockout of former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. Now he hopes to do the same to former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jacare, who is making his light heavyweight debut in Sao Paulo.
Jacare has bounced in and out of middleweight title contention, so he’s hoping to take a quick jump into contention at 205 pounds. A win over Blachowicz could potentially cut the line to a challenge of UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Neither Blachowicz nor Jacare had any issues making weight on Friday. Blachowicz stepped on the scale at ….. pounds, while Jacare weighed …. pounds for his UFC light heavyweight debut.
The UFC Sao Paulo co-main event features another light heavyweight bout, as former champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua squares off with Paul Craig. Again, neither fighter had trouble on the scale.
Three UFC Sao Paulo fighters failed to make weight
Though the UFC on ESPN+ 22 fight card will proceed with all 12 bouts, the weigh-ins weren’t without some hiccups.
Isabela de Padua was well past the mark for her flyweight bout with Ariane Lipski. She stepped on the scale at 130.5 pounds, which is 4.5 pounds over the limit for a flyweight non-title fight. de Padua is a late replacement for Veronica Macedo, who was pulled from the fight card because of severe headaches while cutting weight.
Lipski agreed to remain in the bout and will receive 30-percent of de Padua’s fight purse.
Vanessa Melo and Tracy Cortez are slated to open the UFC Sao Paulo prelims in a bantamweight bout. Both women weighed 0.5 pounds over the limit for a bantamweight non-title fight. Since they both missed weight, neither was fined, and the bout will continue as scheduled.
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UFC on ESPN+ 22: Blachowicz vs. Jacare weigh-in results
Main Card (8 p.m. ET on ESPN+)
- Jan Błachowicz (205) vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (205)
- Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (206) vs. Paul Craig (205)
- Charles Oliveira (155) vs. Jared Gordon (156)
- Antonio Arroyo (185) vs. Andre Muniz (186)
- Markus Perez (186) vs. Wellington Turman (186)
Prelims (5 p.m. ET on ESPN+)
- Sérgio Moraes (171) vs. James Krause (170.5)
- Ricardo Ramos (146) vs. Eduardo Garagorri (145.5)
- Francisco Trinaldo (155) vs. Bobby Green (156)
- Warlley Alves (171) vs. Randy Brown (171)
- Douglas Silva de Andrade (145.5) vs. Renan Barao (146)
- Ariane Lipski (125.5) vs. Isabela de Padua (130.5)*
- Vanessa Melo (136.5) vs. Tracy Cortez (136.5)*
*Vanessa Melo, Tracy Cortez, and Isabela de Padua all missed weight.
UFC on ESPN+ 22: Blachowicz vs. Jacare weigh-in highlights video
(Courtesy of MMAFightingonSBN)
UFC on ESPN+ 22: Blachowicz vs. Jacare live results
Tune to MMAWeekly.com for full UFC on ESPN+ 22 live results on Saturday, Nov. 16, as Jan Blachowicz welcomes Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza to the light heavyweight division in the main event.