There were scary scenes at today’s UFC On ESPN 21 weigh-ins after Julija Stoliarenko attempted to weigh-in for her preliminary card bout with Julia Avila, only to then appear to pass out on two separate occasions.
Stoliarenko had first appeared to be wobbling while making her initial weigh-in attempt, and then she attempted to step off the scales and then passed out, falling heavily onto the stage floor.
Officials rushed to her aid, but appeared to misunderstand the situation and immediately tried to pick her back up, only for her to slump immediately to the ground again.
Despite Stoliarenko insisting that she was ok, she was cautioned not to stand up too quickly and was eventually given a chance to sit on a nearby seat.
At the time Stoliarenko appeared to be ok and was continuing to insist that she was fine, so she was allowed to step onto the scales for a second time.
On this occasion Stoliarenko did successfully weigh-in at 135.5lbs and stepped back off the scales, only to then have to be held up by a bystander as she again became wobbly and then collapsed to the ground, where she briefly appeared in distress.
Remarkably, soon afterwards Stoliarenko continued to be adamant that “I’m fine,” but this time officials were taking no chances and had her stretchered out of the room.
Naturally the troubling scenes led to Stolirenko’s fight with Avila being cancelled and will one again heighten the debate over whether fighter’s should be cutting drastic amounts of weight the day before an event.
