The UFC Vegas 26 weigh-ins are complete. While the main card remains untouched, there were two fights pulled from the lineup.
Although every fight on the main card remains intact, there was still a miss from Diego Ferreira, who will be competing against Gregor Gillespie. Ferreira will be fined 30% of his purse, but the bout will go forward as planned. The same cannot be said for Ryan Benoit’s flyweight bout against Zarrukh Adashev. After Benoit weighed three pounds over the limit, he was ruled out of the bout. Additionally, Philipe Lens was not medically cleared to compete.
UFC Vegas 26 Preview
In some good news, the main event and co-main event did not have any weigh-in issues whatsoever. The main event will see Marina Rodriguez competing against Michelle Waterson. Rodriguez believes that a win here could put her in a position to challenge strawweight champion Rose Namajunas. As for Waterson, she knows that Mother Time is ticking and is excited to make the most of these main-event opportunities whenever they are presented to her, short notice or otherwise.
In the co-main event, Donald Cerrone will more than likely be fighting for his UFC career when he takes on Alex Morono on short notice. Cerrone was caught in the middle of Diego Sanchez’s very public and very ugly UFC release, so after Sanchez was removed from the fight and the promotion, he needed a new opponent. Enter Alex Morono, who expects to get the finish over Cerrone. He is aware that this could also be finishing Cerrone’s UFC career, but this is the bitterness that he is willing to consume in order to swallow the sweetness of victory.
And who can forget about the stawweights, Amanda Ribas (#11) and Angela Hill (#12)? This fight could steal the show with these two highly active and versatile athletes squaring off. Ribas was seen by many to be one of the biggest prospects in the division and was on her way to title contention prior to getting upset by one half of this card’s main event, Marina Rodriguez at UFC 257.
Meanwhile, Hill put on a terrific performance in her most recent outing against Ashley Yoder in March. The winner of this fight will likely enter the top 10 of the division, and in Ribas’ case, she could get right back on the track to title contention that so many put her on coming into the year.
Also, we got Gregor Gillespie (#14) finally making his Octagon return after nearly two years out when he takes on Diego Ferreira (#12). Gillespie has an opportunity to show that his lone career loss to Kevin Lee in 2019 was a mere setback and return to his dominant ways that hadn’t seen him lose a round in his UFC run. Ferreira will also be looking to bounce back from a loss and begin a new streak. Prior to losing to Beneil Dariush in a Fight of the Night, Ferreira had won six consecutive fights. Together, Ferreira and Gillespie have won 19 of their last 21 fights.
Finally, in what may very well be the biggest sleeper fight on the card in what could have easily been slated as a main event, UFC fans will witness the battle of the “Neels” when Neil Magny (#9) takes on Geoff Neal (#10). Not unlike the lightweights discussed above, both Magny and Neal will be looking to rebound from a loss but will have to do so against a fellow ranked and high-level opponent. Also like the lightweights, both of these welterweights were on a winning streak before their most recent losses.
Prior to Magny losing to Michael Chiesa in January, he was on a three-fight winning streak and was looking as good if not better than ever. As for Neal, he had yet to taste defeat in the UFC heading into his loss to Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson last December. Though Neal was outclassed in this contest, not once did he give up or waiver. Neal will no doubt look to harness that same determination in the hopes of yielding a more positive result against another UFC veteran, Neil Magny.
The UFC Vegas 26 main card will kick off at 8 PM ET on ESPN. The preliminary card begins at 5 PM on ESPN+. You can check out the full lineup for tomorrow’s card as well as the weigh-in results below.
UFC Vegas 26 Weigh-In Results
MAIN CARD
Marina Rodriguez (125.5) vs. Michelle Waterson (125)
Donald Cerrone (170) vs. Alex Morono (170.5)
Neil Magny (170.5) vs. Geoff Neal (171)
Maurice Greene (237) vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima (264.5)
Diego Ferreira (160.5)* vs. Gregor Gillespie (156)
Angela Hill (116) vs. Amanda Ribas (115.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD
Philipe Lins () vs. Ben Rothwell (264.5) – Canceled
Kyle Daukaus (186) vs. Phil Hawes (186)
Ludovit Klein (146) vs. Mike Trizano (146)
Zarrukh Adashev (125.5) vs. Ryan Benoit (129)- Canceled
Tafon Nchukwi (186) vs. Jun Yong Park (186)
Christian Aguilera (170.5) vs. Carlston Harris (170.5)
Be sure to stay in the loop right here on MMANews.com for all the updates, live results, and highlights from tomorrow night’s UFC Vegas 26 card!
