The fight between Julija Stoliarenko and Julia Avila at UFC Vegas 22 has been canceled after Stoliarenko fainted on the scale while weighing in for the event.
A scary video shows Stoliarenko stumbling backwards shortly after stepping on the scale. She was tended to by officials from the Nevada Athletic Commission and the UFC for over two minutes before being helped up to her feet and onto the scale again.
She made the 135.5 pound limit for her fight, but the weigh-in was irrelevant — she fainted again just seconds later, this time convulsing as she lay on the ground before appearing to regain consciousness. Stoliarenk was then carried out on a stretcher.
The fight between Stoliarenko and Avila was canceled soon thereafter, and Stoliarenko took to social media to share an explanation for why she believed her weight cut had gone wrong.
“It was actually one of my easiest weight cuts in my career. Weight was dropping too fast. The main issue I think was that I made weight too early. Basically the weigh-ins start at 9 a.m. and I was already on weight at 5 a.m. It was just too long of a time on weight. As everybody knows when you cut weight, you can not be on this weight for too long because you’re already at the limit of your dehydration.”
Avila also shared a statement on Instagram, sending her opponent well wishes in the wake of the scary weigh-in.
