UFC heavyweight fails to make weight after scaling over 266lb limit

Barnett was the final fighter to weigh in for the UFC 279 card and was one of FIVE fighters who failed to make the limit for the card in Las Vegas

Heavyweight Chris Barnett failed to make the 266lb weight limit for his fight against Jake Collier at UFC 279 on Saturday night.

Barnett was the last fighter to step on the scales with just 10 minutes remaining of Friday's two-hour window. He weighed 1.5lb over the heavyweight limit and opted not to try to lose the remaining weight in the allotted extra hour.

He was the FIFTH fighter to fail to make weight with headline act Khamzat Chimaev the most high-profile, coming in 7.5lb heavy for his clash with Nate Diaz. Macy Chiasson and Irene Aldana both missed weight ahead of their fight which will now be a 140lb catchweight bout. Hakeem Dawodu was also overweight and opted not to attempt to shift the extra pounds.

Barnett, who is the second heavyweight in UFC history to weigh over 266lb, revealed earlier this week that he went into his previous fight in April knowing his wife was suffering from encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain. He lost his bout against Martin Buday when he was unable to continue after an unintentional elbow to the back of his head.

Speaking to BJ Penn this week, he said: ""I don't know if you know but my wife had passed away. They called me 30 hours before the Buday fight saying I needed to make a decision. I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ When I left she was fine and now this is popping up.

"With all that going on that camp wasn't a camp man. She went to the hospital, on February 8 and was in the hospital until May 10. Training wise I would get maybe a good two hours in a day and then I was in the hospital the entire time. It was one of those things, a lot of fighters (would have pulled out).

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"[UFC president] Dana White also called me and cussed me out. He was like, ‘Why would you take it.’ I told him I didn't want to but I also understand I see people pull out and I see what y’all say. Even with something of that magnitude, I shouldn't have fought, because I know I wasn't getting the training but I signed that contract.

"Once we sign that contract, life is going to happen and it is what it is, I hate to say it like that but that's what a lot of outside people look at. You sign the contract, and unless you get hurt they don't care, that's technically what the contract says."

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