Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Jeff Chiu / AP
Anderson Silva, center left, and Chael Sonnen face off at a weigh-in event Friday in Oakland, Calif. Silva and Sonnen will fight for Silva’s UFC middleweight title at UFC 117 on Saturday.
Friday, Aug. 6, 2010 | 4:47 p.m.
Reader poll
OAKLAND, Calif. — Every fighter on the UFC 117 card but one made weight Friday at the Oracle Arena.
Unsurprisingly, the one who missed the mark was Thiago Alves.
Alves, who has a history of cutting it close when it comes to making weight, came in half a pound over the 171-limit for his fight against Jon Fitch and was given two hours to cut.
Main event fighters Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva both had no trouble making weight for their middleweight title fight.
Sonnen tipped the scales at 185 and Silva at 184.5. Each fighter received a mix of boos and cheers as his name was announced.
During the usual weigh-in stare-down, Silva refused to look at Sonnen and turned his gaze nonchalantly over his other shoulder.
In his final words to the fans before Saturday's fight, Sonnen invited them to celebrate the end of Silva's career.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the pre-party of Anderson Silva's retirement," Sonnen said.
Silva kept his remarks short, thanking the crowd for turning up and promising to give his best effort.
"Just want to thank everybody for coming out," said Silva through his interpreter Ed Soares. "I'm constantly trying to improve."
Full Results:
Dennis Hallman (171) vs. Ben Saunders (171)
Christian Morecraft (263) vs. Stefan Struve (247)
Tim Boetsch (206) vs. Todd Brown (206)
Johnny Hendricks (171) vs Charlie Brenneman (171)
Rodney Wallace (206) vs. Phil Davis (205.5)
Dustin Hazelett (169.5) vs. Rick Story (169.5)
Junior Dos Santos (240) vs. Roy Nelson (263)
Matt Hughes (170.5) vs. Ricardo Almeida (170.5)
Clay Guida (156) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (156) (Swing Bout)
Thiago Alves (171.5) vs. Jon Fitch (170.5)
Chael Sonnen (185) vs. Anderson Silva (184.5)
Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or brett.okamoto@lasvegassun.com. Follow him on Twitter at LVSunFighting
Post a comment
Commenting requires registration.
Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy.
If you would like to submit your comment as a letter to the editor, you may submit it here.