CSAC, UFC agree to change weight class for bout on Fresno card
UFC Fight Night 123 no longer boasts a flyweight bout, but that doesn't mean Carls John de Tomas and Alex Perez won't be meeting on the bill.
In a collaborative move with the California State Athletic Commission, the promotion has changed Saturday's dance between De Tomas and Perez to a bantamweight bout, UFC vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky told MMAjunkie's John Morgan on Thursday.
The change comes after the CSAC - the sanctioning body of the card in Fresno - approved a 10-point plan taking aim at extreme weight-cutting. The commission tracks the progress of fighters' cuts as fight night approaches, and it appears De Tomas' had the CSAC concerned, hence the fight's change in weight class. The 21-year-old came in five pounds over the flyweight limit for his UFC debut opposite Naoki Inoue this past June.
The CSAC has made such a change to a UFC bout once before, as what had been booked as a bantamweight bout between Renan Barao and Aljamain Sterling at UFC 214 was shifted to a 140-pound catchweight over concerns surrounding Barao's weight cut.
Saturday's bill takes place at Fresno's Save Mart Center.