Las Vegas Sun

Currently: 70° | Complete forecast |

UFC 160 weigh-in: Mike Tyson on hand for final pre-fight festivity

Khabib Nurmagomedov misses weight and causes skirmish

UFC 160 Weigh In

Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun

UFC president Dana White jokes with Mike Tyson during the weigh in for UFC 160 Friday, May 24, 2013.

UFC 160 Weigh-in

Heavyweight challenger Antonio Launch slideshow »

For once, most of the focus at a UFC weigh-in wasn’t on the fighters.

Well, not on any of the fighters competing as part of UFC 160 Saturday night at least. The star attraction at the MGM Grand Garden Arena Friday was former boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

Tyson stood with UFC President Dana White as 24 fighters tipped the scale before bouts Saturday night. “Iron Mike” has long talked of being a big UFC fan — going as far as to say mixed martial arts interests him more than boxing at this point — and it showed.

Tyson awed at the reaction to heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez (240), applauded a highlight reel of challenger Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (263) and embraced nearly every fighter who came across the stage.

The crowd gave Tyson such a loud ovation as he exited the arena that it partially drowned out the main event fighters’ final comments.

“Bigfoot is dangerous, not taking him lightly at all,” Velasquez said. “This means everything to me — holding the belt, keeping the belt.”

Tyson picked an eventful weigh-in to attend. Although the pay-per-view fighters behaved, there were a couple dust-ups or issues on the preliminary card.

Both welterweight Nah-shon Burrell (172) and lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov (158.5) came in overweight. Burrell shed an extra pound to make the mark within an hour, but Nurmagomedov is forced to forfeit 20 percent of his purse.

White appeared angry with Burrell, who missed weight for the second straight fight, but he probably forgot about it within minutes. That’s because Nurmagomedov drew even more ire for his actions.

After coming in a full 2.5 pounds over the limit, Nurmagomedov gave opponent Abel Trujillo (155) a stiff shove when they posed for a face-off photo. White separated the two and ran over to chastise Nurmagomedov, but was beat to it by UFC Site Coordinator Burt Watson.

Everyone on the platform scrambled or looked concerned — except Tyson, who gave two thumbs up and clapped at the altercation.

Tyson also enjoyed the tension between welterweights Mike Pyle (170) and Rick Story (169) who shared a heated staredown. Story declined a chance to shake Pyle’s hand.

Everyone on the main card lightened the mood, especially the two out for a championship. Velasquez and Silva stayed at a distance before exchanging a firm handshake.

“I’m very excited to fight tomorrow,” Silva said. “I’m ready for this fight. I train a lot. I’m going to win this belt for sure.”

Read below for full results from the UFC 160 weigh-in.

Heavyweight championship bout: Cain Velasquez (240) vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (263)

Heavyweight bout: Junior dos Santos (239) vs. Mark Hunt (264)

Light heavyweight bout: Glover Teixeira (205) vs. James Te Huna (206)

Lightweight bout: Gray Maynard (156) vs. T.J. Grant (155)

Lightweight bout: Donald Cerrone (155) vs. K.J. Noons (156)

Welterweight bout: Mike Pyle (170) vs. Rick Story (169)

Featherweight bout: Dennis Bermudez (146) vs. Max Holloway (145)

Welterweight bout: Colton Smith (170) vs. Robert Whittaker (171)

Lightweight bout: Khabib Nurmagomedov (158.5) vs. Abel Trujillo (155)

Welterweight bout: Stephen Thompson (170) vs. Nah-shon Burrell (172)

Bantamweight bout: Brian Bowles (135) vs. George Roop (135)

Featherweight bout: Jeremy Stephens (146) vs. Estevan Payan (145)

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy