B/R Road Report: UFC Fight Night 21 Weigh-in Results and Notes

The only thing left now is the competition as all of the combatants for UFC Fight Night 21 in Charlotte, NC made weight Tuesday.

The Scene

The weigh-ins were at the Bojangles Coliseum, the venue that will host the show Wednesday night. From the outside, the arena looks fairly modern, but from the inside, it’s a different story. It has the concrete feel of an old-school hockey arena. 

Total capacity was estimated at 8,000 for the single-level facility. As of 4:30 pm Tuesday, the cage was yet to be set up. I feel bad for the fans that have to sit in the hard plastic seats tomorrow night.

Between the Q/A and weigh-ins, videos ran repeatedly on an HD screen above the platform, showing fight previews, Affliction and Bud Light ads, and some merchandise spots. And like usual, the music was cranked LOUD. Are MMA fans known to be deaf? I don’t get this.

In Attendance

All the UFC front office “stars” were in attendance: UFC Prez Dana White (clad in a cap, hoodie, and jeans), VP/matchmaker Joe Silva, Mike Goldberg, Bruce Buffer, Arianny Celeste and Chandella Powell. Goldberg handled the MC duties as Joe Rogan was not in attendance.

Also floating around was Renzo Gracie, who did a Q/A for the UFC Fight Club with Goldberg prior to the weigh-ins. Look for a wrap tomorrow here and a feature on him next week—both on B/R.

Stepping On the Scale

Here’s how the guys weighed in, presented in the same order in which they will compete on Wednesday night. Overall, everyone was in great shape with a few standouts.

The Undercard

- Jason High (170) vs. Charlie Brenneman (170). High was shredded.

- Gerald Harris (186) vs. Mario Miranda (186). Miranda was also really in great shape.

- Lucio Linhares (184) vs. Yushin Okami (184). Okami got a great ovation, as did all of the Japanese fighters.

- Caol Uno (156) vs. Gleison Tibau (156). Uno got loud cheers. Tibau looked in great shape and was very respectful.

- Rob Emerson (154) vs. Nik Lentz (155). For some reason, Lentz’ nickname (“The Carnie”) stuck out as he looks nothing like someone that would assemble a ferris wheel. This was the only intense staredown of the weigh-ins as they went nose to nose.

Emerson looked pensive on the scale and very intense afterward. He also added quite a few more tattoos since I last saw him.

- Ronys Torres (155) vs. Jacob Volkmann (155). Torres came out in a colorful headdress, while Volkmann was nearly invisible.

- Andre Winner (156) vs. Rafaello Oliveira (156): Winner got a great ovation.

The Televised Card

- Ross Pearson (156) vs. Dennis Siver (156). This looked like a real tough cut for Siver as you could see his cheekbones stick out. Pearson was wildly popular here.

- Nate Quarry (186) vs. Jorge Rivera (186). Quarry didn’t looked as jacked as in previous fights, especially in his chest. I could see Rivera mouth "This is going to be Fight of the Night" to White before the two posed.

- Roy Nelson (263) vs. Stefan Struve (248). Nelson has definitely dropped some fat, even if the numbers say otherwise. Struve looked a bit more filled out, but wasn’t cut. Nelson got a good pop.

- Kenny Florian (156) vs. Takanori Gomi (155). These were definitely the hardcore fans as Gomi got a huge pop. Florian got a nice reception as well, but Gomi was the star of the show.

Tuesday: Kenny Florian, Takanori Gomi look for redemption
Monday: Observations From Media Day

Josh Nason is a freelance MMA writer who has contributed to Bleacher Report, FIGHT! Magazine, MMA Madness.com, and others. He is in Charlotte, NC, all week for UFC Fight Night 21 and will be posting new stories every day leading up to the event.

Follow him on Twitter: @joshnason.