Middleweight gets viciously KO'd after missing weight for first card of the year at UFC Vegas 101
01/11/2025 07:40 PM
Middleweight prospect Ihor Potieria paid a massive price for a huge weight miss in his UFC Vegas 101 return.
If Marco Tulio had any UFC debut nerves in his middleweight clash against Ihor Potieria, it took him mere minutes to get comfortable at UFC Vegas 101.
Potieria, a former light heavyweight, missed weight by three pounds (188lbs) on Friday ahead of his return against Tulio. After Potieria forfeited a percentage of his purse for the weight miss, the fight was moved to a 188lb catchweight to close out the UFC Vegas 101 prelims.
Tulio opted to take the center of the Octagon right away against Potieria and had his opponent on the back foot from the get-go. After landing a right hand that just missed landing flush, he followed it up with another overhand as Potieria charged forward, finding a home to Potieria’s chin.
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Ihor Potieria gets flattened after a bad weight miss at UFC Vegas 101
It was a brutal knockout for Tulio, who proved he was worth the signing via Dana White’s Contender Series last year. As for Potieria, it was another disappointing setback as he’s now lost five of his previous six fights.
Potieria became one of the first UFC fighters to miss weight to begin 2025, as he was one of two athletes to fail to weigh in at the contracted limit on Friday. Flyweight Jose Johnson also missed weight by three pounds ahead of his clash with Felipe Bunes on the UFC Vegas 101 undercard.
Tulio has now won nine consecutive fights since a loss to Alexandre Silva at SFT 5 in 2018. He earned a shot in the UFC by finishing Matthieu Duclos with a spinning back-kick knockout on DWCS.
Fighters who miss weight are 0-2 in the UFC to kick off 2025
Potieria’s UFC future is uncertain after the massive weight miss and ongoing struggles inside the Octagon. Before the loss to Tulio, and after a move from light heavyweight to middleweight, César Almeida defeated Potieria by unanimous decision at UFC 307 last October.
Potieria made his UFC debut at UFC 277 after finishing Łukasz Sudolski on DWCS in 2021. After winning 19 of his first 21 professional fights, he’s struggled to translate his success to the UFC Octagon in recent defeats to Nicolae Negumereanu and Carlos Ulberg.
Potieria and Johnson both lost their fights in lopsided fashion after missing weight ahead of UFC Vegas 101. Their performances show that missing weight does little to produce positive results in the cage.
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