UFC: Mark Hunt makes weight for Brock Lesnar fight

Mark Hunt has made weight ahead of his co-main event bout against Brock Lesnar at UFC 200 in Las Vegas tomorrow.

In a drama-filled week for the UFC, they also nearly had another crisis on their hands as women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate (18-5) only just beat the clock to weigh-in.

Under a new weigh-in regime, which is being trialled at a range of events this year, fighters jump on the scales earlier in the morning and then take part in the unofficial, televised weigh-in later in the day. Today's weigh-ins took place from 8am-10am local time in Las Vegas.

This is done to give fighters more time to rehydrate after they have made weight.

Hunt (12-10-1), a man that needs to drop a few kilograms to make the UFC's 265-pound (120.2kg) heavyweight limit, tipped the scales at 264.5 pounds, while Lesnar (5-3), a 38-year-old behemoth who cuts weight to make the limit, was 265.5 pounds. Fighters are given one pound of grace in non-title bouts.

Tate, who will meet Amanda Nunes (12-4), made it to the weigh-in site with only seconds to spare at 10am and was 134.5 pounds, while Nunes was 135 (61kg).

American news outlet MMAjunkie reported that had Tate not hit the scales in time, the fight could have been pulled from the card. Had Tate missed weight, the fight would have been a non-title bout, MMAjunkie reported.

But, after the drama of Jon Jones (22-1) being removed from his light heavyweight title unification bout with Daniel Cormier (17-1) due to a suspected failed drugs test this week, Tate and Nunes will go ahead as planned as the replacement main event.

Cormier will now meet Anderson Silva (33-7, 1 NC) in a non-title, light heavyweight match-up and Silva weighed-in at 198.5 pounds, well below the 205-pound (93kg) light heavyweight limit. Cormier was 206 pounds.

Across the whole fight card, only one fighter missed weight and that was welterweight Johny Hendricks (17-4) who tipped in at 171.25 pounds - only 113 grams over - but it still means he will forfeit 25% of his purse to opponent Kelvin Gastelum (11-2) who was 171 pounds.

Log on to nzherald.co.nz from 2pm tomorrow to follow Daniel Richardson's live blog of UFC 200