HOUSTON – William Knight missed big on the scale Friday, so much so his UFC 271 bout was bumped up a weight class.
Originally scheduled to take on Maxim Grishin at light heavyweight Saturday, Knight (11-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) missed the 206-pound divisional limit by 12 pounds when he stepped on the scale.
As a result, Knight vs. Grishin (31-9-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) was bumped to a heavyweight contest. Knight forfeited 40 percent of his purse for the miss, a UFC official told MMA Junkie.
Prior to Friday, Knight had yet to miss weight in his UFC tenure. He took the fight against Grishin on short notice, filling in for the withdrawn Ed Herman.
William Knight just missed by weight by a whopping 1️⃣2️⃣ POUNDS ahead of his #UFC271 fight with Maxim Grishin. 😱
The bout has been shifted to heavyweight, per UFC.
Full results: https://t.co/I1ArwOkDeJ pic.twitter.com/adRNUDaFhN
— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) February 11, 2022
UFC 271 takes place Saturday at Toyota Center. The main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view after prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.
Check out Knight’s weight miss in the video above.