Julija Stoliarenko entered the weigh-in room Friday morning at the UFC Apex, and everything seemed normal at first.
She walked to the end of the stage, sat down, and took off her pants and shoes. She got up, walked toward the scale, and stepped on. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Twenty seconds later, Stoliarenko was on the floor after she stumbled backwards off the scale and collapsed. The only thing that kept her sitting upright was the backdrop signage behind her. You couldn’t have watched this without gasping. It was that bad.
Somehow, the worst was still to come.
For the next two-and-half minutes, Stoliarenko was tended to by Nevada Athletic Commission and UFC officials. Was her collapse the result of a bad weight cut? Likely, but we don’t know for sure. Regardless, the phrase “protect fighters from themselves” sprang to mind as she was being examined.
Just cancel her fight. Just cancel her fight.
For some reason, they didn’t just cancel her fight. Stoliarenko was permitted to get up off her chair and step back on the scale. She weighed in at 135.5, meaning she hit her mark for her UFC on ESPN 21 bantamweight fight with Julia Avila – as if that mattered.
Seconds later, Stoliarenko fainted again, and her body went limp as she fell. This time she appeared to briefly lose consciousness and convulse before she got her senses back. Frightening stuff, to say the least.
Just watch:
Stoliarenko was taken off on a stretcher, and her fight was eventually canceled.
Now questions must be answered: Why did Stoliarenko step on the scale a second time? Were officials seriously considering that she might still fight after the first collapse? What about fighter safety?
The NAC declined to comment when requested by MMA Junkie’s John Morgan. UFC president Dana White, who regularly speaks with reporters after weigh-ins, didn’t on Friday. And so, we’re just left to wonder.
But that’s not good enough. It can’t be. So often, people in power are unwilling to protect fighters first.
Illegal knee to the head? The referee asks, “Are you good?”
Nasty eye poke? The ringside doctor asks, “Can you see?”
There was hesitation again Friday with Julija Stoliarenko. There shouldn’t have been.
The handling of Julija Stoliarenko’s UFC on ESPN 21 weigh-in was all wrong | Opinion
