Julija Stoliarenko was the unfortunate victim of one of the most alarming weigh-in incidents in UFC history last Friday when she passed out twice on stage while getting off the scales, just 24 hours before her fight with Julia Avila.
Needless to say the fight was hastily cancelled despite Stoliarenko actually having managed to stay on the scales long enough to register 135.5lbs at the second attempt, before unsteadily coming back off, slumping to the stage floor and appearing to have a minor seizure.
Thankfully Stoliarenko now appears to be ok and has spoken out for the first time about what caused the situation that led to her being taken away on a stretcher.
“The problem wasn’t my weight cut, and actually I want to say it was one of the easiest cuts in my career and weight was dropping too fast,” Stoliarenko said in an Instagram video. “The main issue, I think, was that I made weight too early.”
Four hours early to be exact, and being so dehydrated for so long took a toll on her that was clear for all to see by the time she took to the scales.
“I just was too long time on weight. As everybody knows, when you cut weight you cannot be on this weight for too long, because you’re already on the limits of your dehydration and so on. That was an issue why it all happened.”
The 27-year-old Lithuanian has only fought once in the UFC so far, losing by unanimous decision against Yana Kunitskaya in August of last year, but she had been on a five-fight winning streak prior to that, including picking up a victory in the Invicta FC promotion.
