Women’s flyweight champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane is official for her Bellator 254 title fight, but Goiti Yamauchi missed weight by six pounds.
Macfarlane is looking to once again defend the Bellator women’s flyweight title and she puts it on the line Thursday night at Bellator 254 against Juliana Velasquez. These are actually two undefeated fighters so this is a very intriguing matchup. At the official weigh-ins ahead of the fights at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, both fighters made weight and this fight is official, with both fighters coming in just a hair under 125lbs.
Although Macfarlane vs. Velasquez is official and good to go, unfortunately, another fight on the main card was scratched due to a bad weight cut. In what was supposed to be a lightweight contest, Bellator veteran Goiti Yamauchi came in at 162.8lbs, far over the non-title lightweight limit of 156lbs. His opponent, Nate Andrews, made weight at 155.8lbs. Due to the terrible weight miss from Yamauchi, Andrews decided it was not worth taking the fight against a much heavier opponent, and this fight has now been scratched. According to MMAjunkie.com’s Nolan King, Andrews will still receive compensation from Bellator.
Otherwise, everyone else of note made weight for the event, which is set to go with 10 fights. Check out the full weigh-in results for Bellator 254 (courtesy of MMAFighting.com).
Bellator 254 main card
lima-Lei Macfarlane (124.8) vs. Juliana Velasquez (124.4)
Magomed Magomedov (136) vs. Matheus Mattos (135.2)
Goiti Yamauchi (162.8) vs. Nate Andrews (155.8)*
Linton Vassell (239) vs. Ronny Markes (252.1)
Davion Franklin (264) vs. Anthony Garrett (241)
Bellator 254 preliminary card
Robson Gracie Jr. (170) vs. Billy Goff (169.8)
Kenny Champion (144.7) vs. Cody Law (145)
Romero Cotton (185.1) vs. Justin Sumter (184.7)
Kemran Lachinov (170.9) vs. Shamil Nikaev (170.3)
Maurice Jackson (201.3) vs. Grant Neal (204.9)
*Yamauchi came in heavy at 162.8lbs and the fight with Andrews was scratched.
Do you think Ilima-Lei Macfarlane will successfully defend her belt at Bellator 254?