LAS VEGAS -- UFC bantamweight Cameron Smotherman collapsed moments after making weight Friday.
Smotherman (12-6) had been scheduled to face Ricky Turcios at UFC 324 on Saturday inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but the fight was canceled after his collapse. Smotherman successfully weighed in at 135.5 pounds Friday morning but then fell to the floor after taking several steps away from the scale. He was eventually carried off the platform at T-Mobile Arena and tended to by physicians. Turcios also made weight.
Smotherman posted a video later Friday saying that he's "completely OK" and would "hopefully be back soon." He said he wasn't sure why he collapsed, claiming he actually didn't cut a lot of weight for the fight.
"I'm not entirely sure what happened," Smotherman said. "I see a lot of people online saying, oh, it's crazy weight cuts, stuff like that. I genuinely didn't cut very much weight for this fight. I came in pretty low, but even over the course of this week I haven't cut much weight. I'm not entirely sure what happened and I have some more tests and stuff to take in the coming weeks to get to the bottom of it.
"But, you know, for all the people saying that I must've done a crazy cut or something like that, I've cut very, very little weight."
Weight cutting is a standard practice in the UFC and MMA in general. It is common for athletes to cut more than 10% of body weight in the days leading up to a weigh-in before rehydrating ahead of the competition.
The UFC has not announced any update on Smotherman. He is 1-2 in three appearances in the UFC.
Former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo missed weight by 2.5 pounds for a high-profile matchup against Umar Nurmagomedov on Saturday's card. Flyweight Alex Perez also missed by 2.5 pounds for a 125-pound contest against Charles Johnson. Figueiredo and Perez were both fined 25% of their purse, but the bouts will continue as scheduled.
