The UFC fight between Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Michel Pereira has been cancelled due to Pereira exceeding the welterweight limit during the weigh-ins.
The match between Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Michel Pereira has been called off. The announcement was made by UFC reporter Megan Olivi prior to Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins for UFC 291, set to take place Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Both Thompson and Pereira were originally scheduled to participate in the main card of the event.
The cancellation followed Pereira exceeding the weight limit at the official weigh-ins. He weighed in at 174 pounds, three pounds above the welterweight limit. Following this, an official statement from UFC confirmed the bout with Stephen Thompson was canceled due to Pereira’s weight infringement.
This isn’t the first time Pereira has missed the weight mark in his UFC career. He previously came in a pound over in September 2019 at UFC Vancouver, where he later lost to Tristan Connelly via a unanimous decision. On the other hand, Thompson was set to make his 2023 debut following a successful 2022. He notched a victory against Kevin Holland via TKO in December of the previous year.
Thompson issued a statement on social media on Friday explaining his decision to decline the fight. He paralleled the situation to his 2018 match against Darren Till, where Till exceeded the weight limit by 3.5 pounds but was still granted a shot at the UFC welterweight title after securing a controversial majority decision win. It’s currently uncertain whether the bout between Thompson and Pereira will be rescheduled or if each fighter will be assigned new opponents.