NEW DELHI: Indian MMA fighter Anshul Jubli is all set to make his Ultimate Fighting Championship(UFC) debut in UFC 294 on Saturday, headlined by the lightweight title fight between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski.
However, there was a hindrance during the buildup as Jubli’s opponent Mike Breeden of the United States missed his weigh-in by 3.5lbs(1.58kg).
UFC’s rulebook says “For non-title bouts, lightweight athletes can weigh in up to 156 pounds(70.76kgs), while title fights require athletes to weigh in at or under 155 pounds(70.30kg)”. Jubli was cleared for the fight after weighing 155.5lbs (70.53kg), while Breeden weighed in at 159.5lbs(72.34kg).
The uncertainty regarding the fight going through was cleared when Jubli took to his official Instagram handle and declared he would go ahead with the fight by resharing a story posted by his manager.
Additionally, Breeden will be asked to forfiet 20 to 30 per cent of his earnings from the fight and a penalty will be levied on his post-fight bonuses, if any, for missing weight.
The fighter, hailing from Uttarakhand, will come into this weekend’s fight in red-hot form as he is unbeaten in the professional Mixed Martial Arts(MMA) circuit with seven out of seven wins
Breeden on the other hand, is 16 fights old with ten wins and six losses. Analysing purely on the recent form of both the fighters, this could be the perfect start to Jubli’s UFC career as the American is on a four-fight losing streak.
Jubli will be poised to make an imposing first impression as a victory on Saturday would make him the only Indian to win a bout in UFC. Agencies
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