This weekend’s super-sized UFC main event is now official.
Alistair Overeem and Augusto Sakai both weighed in successfully Friday morning for their heavyweight headliner. Overeem weighed 252.5 pounds and Sakai came in at 261.5. The non-title heavyweight limit is 266 pounds. Overeem and Sakai will meet Saturday night to cap UFC Fight Night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
The bout has heavyweight contender implications. ESPN has Overeem ranked No. 10 in the world in the division. Sakai is trying to break into the upper echelon.
Overeem (46-18, 1 NC) has won three of four and is coming off a second-round TKO win over Walt Harris in May. The Netherlands resident, who trains with Elevation Fight Team in Colorado, is a decorated heavyweight legend with titles in multiple promotions, including Strikeforce and Dream. Overeem, 40, owns wins over the likes of former UFC champions Brock Lesnar, Fabricio Werdum (twice),
Junior dos Santos and Vitor Belfort (twice). Sakai (15-1-1) has won six straight, including all four of his UFC fights. The Brazil native has not lost since 2017, to UFC veteran Cheick Kongo in Bellator. Sakai, 29, is coming off a split decision win over Blagoy Ivanov in May.
The co-main event competitors also made weight Friday. Ovince Saint Preux weighed in at 205.5 pounds and Alonzo Menifield hit the scale at 204. Saint Preux (24-14), who is returning to light heavyweight after one fight at heavyweight, has dropped four of six. Menifield (9-1), a promising slugger out of Texas, lost his undefeated record in his last bout to Devin Clark at UFC 250 in June.
Every other athlete weighing in Friday did so successfully. The UFC lost a fight from the card Thursday when women’s bantamweight fighter Karol Rosa had to be hospitalized due to weight-cutting issues, per her manager Tiago Okamura. Sijara Eubanks, Rosa’s scheduled opponent, was rebooked for Sept. 12 against Julia Avila.