Sterling and Cejudo comply at the weigh-in

Cejudo was the first to step on the scales for Saturday’s event from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, weighing in right at the 135-pound limit and accompanied by his large entourage of teammates and trainers, who waited for more than an hour until the Sterling champion moved to 134 pounds.

After the weigh-in, the Jamaican-born fighter acknowledged that it was not as easy to make the weight as on other occasions, but the bout is now official.

It will be Cejudo’s first fight since May 2020, in his attempt to regain the title he vacated when he stepped aside from competition.

Those who didn’t suffer were Gilbert Burns (171) and Belal Muhammad (170), who made weight for their No. 1 welterweight contender fight that was arranged on just three weeks’ notice.

Newcomer Diego Lopes, who came in at the last minute to replace Bryce Mitchell, weighed in at 146 pounds to face Movsar Evloev, who stepped on the scales at 145 pounds. Lopes is a former champion of Mexican promotion LUX Fight League and teammate of Irene Aldana and Alexa Grasso. Although he was born in Brazil, he will also represent Mexico in the UFC.

Another Latino making his first octagon appearance is Peru’s Rolando Bedoya (170), who will fight Khaos Williams (169).

During the week, the card suffered the loss of Daniel Santos due to an infection and left Johnny Muñoz without a fight. Also, during the morning weigh-in session, it was announced that Rafael Estevam would not be able to step on the scale due to health complications and left Zhalgas Zhumagulov, who weighed 125 pounds, without an opponent.

Joseph Holmes missed the middleweight limit by three pounds and was fined 20 percent for his fight with Brazilian Claudio Ribeiro (185), who will open the card after adjustments.