The first official UFC weigh-in of 2026 was an eventful one, to say the least.
Friday’s UFC 324 weigh-in began with a scary moment when bantamweight Cameron Smotherman fainted mere seconds after stepping down off the scale.
Smotherman successfully made weight, coming in at 135.5 pounds, but then passed out and face-planted on stage as he attempted to walk off. There was no immediate word on his condition.
Smotherman’s opponent, Ricky Turcios, also successfully made the non-title bantamweight limit by weighing 136 pounds, however, roughly half an hour after Smotherman’s fall, the UFC announced the matchup was being cancelled.
The contest was scheduled to take place on the early portion of Saturday night’s preliminary card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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UFC 324 is headlined by Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett as they compete for an interim lightweight title while reigning champion Ilia Topuria takes time away from the sport.
Gaethje and Pimblett needed to weigh no more than 155 pounds for their title fight to be made official. All non-title competitors on the card were granted a one-pound allowance.
Pimblett was the first fighter on the scale Friday and weighed in with a full pound to spare. Gaethje, meanwhile, was the last fighter to weigh in and the longtime title contender came in at the championship limit.
Watch UFC 324 on Sportsnet+
Lightweight stars Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett compete for an interim championship on the first UFC card of the year. Watch UFC 324 on Saturday, Jan. 24 with prelim coverage beginning 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, and pay-per-view main card starting at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
Two veterans set for featured preliminary scraps, were each overweight by 2.5 pounds.
Former two-time flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo missed the bantamweight limit, weighing 138.5 pounds ahead of facing Umar Nurmagomedov, who was on weight. This is the second time Figueiredo has missed weight in his UFC career but the first time since moving up to the bantamweight division.
Also, Alex Perez weighed 128.5 pounds ahead of his flyweight meeting with Charles Johnson. Perez missed weight on multiple occasions in his early professional career but this marks just the second weight miss of his UFC tenure.
Both Figueiredo and Perez were fined 25 per cent of their purse for missing weight but their matchups will proceed at catchweights.
Below are the official UFC 324 weigh-in results:
— Justin Gaethje (155) vs. Paddy Pimblett (154)
— Sean O’Malley (135.5) vs. Song Yadong (136)
— Waldo Cortes-Acosta (262) vs. Derrick Lewis (263.5)
— Natalia Silva (126) vs. Rose Namajunas (125.5)
— Arnold Allen (145.5) vs. Jean Silva (146)
— Umar Nurmagomedov (136) vs. Deiveson Figueiredo (138.5)*
— Ateba Gautier (186) vs. Andrey Pulyaev (186)
— Nikita Krylov (205.5) vs. Modestas Bukauskas (204)
— Alex Perez (128.5)* vs. Charles Johnson (126)
— Michael Johnson (156) vs. Alexander Hernandez (155.5)
— Josh Hokit (234.5) vs. Denzel Freeman (257.5)
— Ricky Turcios (136) vs. Cameron Smotherman (135.5)**
— Adam Fugitt (171) vs. Ty Miller (170)
*fighter missed weight, fined 25 per cent of purse
**fight cancelled due to health concerns after Smotherman’s fall