UFC fighter Christopher Ewert was released from the promotion even before he could weigh in for UFC 317.
Ewert had been scheduled to fight fellow newcomer Jackson McVey on Saturday. However, as the official weigh-ins began on Friday, the middleweight bout was announced as canceled by Jon Anik due to Ewert missing weight. Consequently, Ewert was released from his UFC contract.
Following the news of Ewert`s release, his coach, Javier Torres, provided a statement explaining the situation and the intense effort involved in the attempted weight cut.
Torres emphasized the difficulty and commitment, stating:
People don’t understand how much we tried. We started the cut at 216 pounds. When we arrived in Vegas, he weighed 216. By Friday morning, we got down to 195.
He detailed the challenging logistics: receiving the fight offer on Tuesday afternoon, dealing with a flight delay from Phoenix (8:30 a.m. departure delayed to 11:05 a.m., landing in Vegas at 1 p.m.), and then navigating immediate UFC media obligations. This left a narrow window (4-6 p.m.) for an initial short cutting session including running, pads, mitts, sauna, and a mummy wrap.
The main weight cutting process began between 6 and 7 p.m. local time on Thursday. Torres described multiple rounds of procedures that got Ewert down to 197.3 pounds around 1 a.m. However, about 90 minutes later, Ewert started experiencing minor cramps. Despite continuing with a bath and mummy wrap, his weight only dropped slightly to 197 pounds upon rechecking.
Torres revealed that upon accepting the fight, especially on less than a week`s notice, the team had hoped for a catchweight bout, specifically targeting 195 pounds. He reiterated:
We told our business partner [Mick Maynard] we wanted catchweight since Tuesday. We always said 195.
He recounted a conversation with Maynard at 4 a.m. Friday, explaining Chris`s condition and the cramps.
I let him rest, he couldn’t sleep for shit.
They resumed the strenuous cut at 7:15 a.m. after a 6:45 a.m. weight check. This involved running and pads in a sauna suit, followed by more sauna and a mummy wrap in the suit. This process was repeated until 9:30 a.m.
Torres concluded emphatically about the effort made:
We did try super f*cking hard. We cut 22 pounds from Wednesday to Friday morning.
