Oliveira's coach blames weight miss on scale

An issue with the scale led to Charles Oliveira missing weight Friday, his coach says.

Oliveira was scheduled to defend the lightweight title against Justin Gaethje at UFC 274 on Saturday in Phoenix, but he'll instead be stripped of the belt after weighing in 0.5 pounds over the limit.

Several fighters reported a problem with the official weigh-in scale, saying it didn't align with the backstage scale they used to initially check their weight, according to MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz.

"We went to sleep on weight. We checked the weight on the scale the organization leaves for us downstairs and everything was OK," Oliveira's coach, Diego Lima, told Brazilian outlet Combate, as translated by Cruz. "When we checked it in the morning, (his weight) was off.

"We even posted last night that he had made weight because that's what really happened."

A spokesperson for the Arizona State Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts Commission, which is regulating the event, told MMA Fighting in a statement that staff reviewed the official scale before and during weigh-ins and found no issues with calibration. The spokesperson said the commission doesn't inspect any other scales used.

Gaethje, who'll still capture the lightweight title if he beats Oliveira, doubts there was an issue with the official weigh-in scale: