A UFC fighter stumbled and fell while attempting to weigh in Friday morning, prompting the cancellation of her bout.
Julija Stoliarenko, a women's bantamweight fighter, collapsed twice attempting to make weight for her scheduled UFC Fight Night bout Saturday with Julia Avila in Las Vegas. The bout has been canceled because of weight-cutting issues, UFC officials told ESPN.
While on the scale, Stoliarenko started to lose her balance. She attempted to take a step back off the scale but staggered backward and collapsed against the UFC backdrop. UFC security assisted Stoliarenko to a chair at the corner of the stage.
In an unsettling scene, Stoliarenko was allowed to get on the scale again to weigh in for the Nevada State Athletic Commission. She successfully made 135.5 pounds. But when trying to get off the scale a second time, she collapsed again, with a member of the UFC security team catching her.
A nearby physician came in to tend to her. Stoliarenko's coach, Donatas Uktveris, brought her water. Stoliarenko was taken from the room on a stretcher. She was transported to a hospital, per the UFC. A request by ESPN for comment from Stoliarenko's team was not responded to immediately.
When asked why Stoliarenko was allowed to get back on the scale after the initial fall, NSAC chief assistant Jeff Mullen, who was presiding over the weigh-ins, declined to comment.
In an Instagram video Friday evening, Stoliarenko said she actually did not have trouble cutting weight. In fact, she said, the pounds came off too quickly. Stoliarenko said she reached the bantamweight limit too early Friday, at around 5 a.m. With the weigh-ins starting at 9 a.m., she had to stay without food and water for four hours in order to make weight for the bout.
"As everybody knows when you cut weight, you cannot be on this weight for too long, because you're already on the limits of your dehydration and so on," Stoliarenko said. "That was an issue why it all happened."
Stoliarenko said she understands why the commission and UFC canceled the fight, but she said she feels much better and could have competed Saturday. Stoliarenko apologized to the UFC and Avila for the incident.
"I am actually feeling ready for a fight," Stoliarenko said. "My body feels great. I'm still in good shape."
Weight cutting is a dangerous part of mixed martial arts. Fighters sometimes lose 20 to 30 pounds in the days and weeks leading up to weigh-ins, sweating out the remaining weight in a hot bath or sauna. Some state athletic commissions, including California's, have instituted regulations to curtail extreme weight cutting and severe dehydration in combat sports.
Stoliarenko (9-4-2) had a five-fight winning streak snapped in her previous bout, a unanimous decision loss to Yana Kunitskaya in her UFC debut. The Lithuania native is the former Invicta FC women's bantamweight champion. Stoliarenko, 27, is also a former champion in the Burmese martial art of Lethwei.