A UFC fighter tripped and fell while attempting to weigh in on Friday morning, leading to the cancellation of her fight.
Julija Stoliarenko, a women’s bantamweight fighter, plunged twice in a bid to gain weight for her scheduled UFC Fight Night bout Saturday with Julia Avila in Las Vegas. The fight has been canceled due to weight loss issues, UFC officials told ESPN.
While standing on the scales, Stoliarenko began to lose her balance. She tried to step back from the scales, but staggered back and collapsed against the UFC backdrop. UFC security assisted Stoliarenko and moved her to a seat in the corner of the stage.
In a disturbing scene, Stoliarenko was allowed to come back on the scales to weigh for the Nevada State Athletic Commission. She has successfully earned 135.5 pounds. But when she tried to get off the scale for the second time, she collapsed again, with a member of the UFC security team catching her.
A nearby doctor came to take care of her. Stoliarenko’s coach, Donatas Uktveris, brought her water. Stoliarenko was taken from the room on a stretcher. She was taken to a hospital, according to the UFC. A request for comment from Stoliarenko’s team was not immediately returned to ESPN.
When asked why Stoliarenko was allowed to return to the scales after the first fall, NSAC chief assistant Jeff Mullen, who chaired the weigh-in, declined.
Losing weight is a dangerous part of mixed martial arts. Fighters sometimes lose 20 to 30 pounds in the days and weeks leading up to the weigh-in, sweating out the remaining weight in a hot bath or sauna. Some state athletic committees, such as California, have regulations in place to limit extreme weight loss and severe dehydration in martial arts.
Stoliarenko (9-4-2) had a five-fight winning streak in her previous fight, a unanimous decision loss against Yana Kunitskaya in her UFC debut. The Lithuanian resident is the former Invicta FC women’s bantamweight champion. Stoliarenko, 27, is also a former champion of the Burmese martial art from Lethwei.