Almost all fighters made weight ahead of the upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship card.
In the UFC Vegas 54 main event, Jan Blachowicz faces Aleksandar Rakic in a clash that will likely determine the next challenger at the 205-pound crown. Former UFC light heavyweight titleholder Blachowicz (28-9, 11-6 UFC) is coming off a disappointing performance that cost him the divisional title against Glover Teixeira at UFC 267. On that occasion, the Polish fighter tapped to a rear-naked choke in the second period. Overall, Blachowicz has won five of his last six outings, including a title defense over reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya who move up a division to face the Polish fighter in the UFC 259 headliner. Blachowicz weighed in at 205.5 pounds.
Rakic (14-2, 6-1 UFC) has been victorious in six of seven Octagon appearances. Recently, he upended Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 175 and UFC 259, respectively. The Austrian fighter came in at 205 pounds on the dot for his second main event.
The co-headliner also features a light heavyweight clash as Ion Cutelaba will lock horns with Ryan Spann. Cutelaba (16-6-1, 1 NC; 5-5-1 UFC) wants to add another victory to his resume after upending Devin Clark on all scorecards at UFC Fight Night 192. Spann (19-7, 5-2 UFC) has alternated victories and defeats in his latest outings and is looking to bounce back on track following a submission loss at the hands of Anthony Smith in the UFC Fight Night 192 headliner. Both fighters had no issues hitting the contracted mark as Cutelaba recorded 205 pounds and Spann 206.
UFC newcomer Carlos Candelario had some issues in making weight and eventually failed by half a pound to hit the limit of the 125-pound division.
UFC Vegas 54, also known as UFC on ESPN 36, will go down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The prelims will begin on ESPN and ESPN+ at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT. The main card will then air on ESPN2 and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
Jan Blachowicz (205.5) vs. Aleksandar Rakic (205) at light heavyweight
Ion Cutelaba (205) vs. Ryan Spann (206) at light heavyweight
Davey Grant (135.5) vs. Louis Smolka (136) at bantamweight
Katlyn Chookagian (125.5) vs. Amanda Ribas (125.5) at women's flyweight
Frank Camacho (155) vs. Manuel Roberto Torres (155.5) at lightweight
Jake Hadley (125.5) vs. Allan Nascimento (125.5) at flyweight
Viviane Araujo (125) vs. Andrea Lee (125) at women's flyweight
Michael Johnson (155) vs. Alan Patrick (156) at lightweight
Angela Hill (115.5) vs. Virna Jandiroba (115) at women's strawweight
Carlos Candelario (126.5)* vs. Tatsuro Taira (125) at flyweight
Nick Maximov (184.5) vs. Andre Petroski (185) at middleweight
*Candelario missed weight by .5 pounds and has been fined a percentage of his purse.
