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UFC 183 weigh-in: Gastelum misses weight, Silva acts cheery at MGM

Crowd fired up for Miesha Tate vs. Sara McMann

UFC 183: MGM Grand Garden Arena Weigh Ins

L.E. Baskow

Middleweight fighters Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz face off after their UFC 183 weigh-ins at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Friday, Jan. 30, 2015.

UFC 183: Media Day at MGM

The UFC183 fighters Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz pose for the crowd during media day events at the MGM Grand on Thursday, January 29, 2015. Launch slideshow »

Kelvin Gastelum may not fight for the welterweight title as soon as he hoped.

He may never fight in the weight class again. For the third time in four fights, the undefeated 23-year-old missed weight Friday afternoon at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Gastelum had come back to make the 171-pound limit on his second attempt at a weigh-in a year ago, at UFC 171 when he fought Rick Story, but there were no retries at UFC 183. He was too far off. Gastelum tipped the scales at 180 pounds, drawing boos from the crowd and ire from his opponent, Tyron Woodley (170.5).

“It’s terribly unprofessional,” Woodley said in a post to his Instagram account. “If it had been the first time, maybe I wouldn’t have been as upset.”

Rumors circulated that Gastelum’s weight cut was so severe that he had to be hospitalized. It’s not an ideal incident to come on the eve of a massive fight, a co-main event spot on Super Bowl weekend that could have launched the former “Ultimate Fighter” winner into top-contender consideration.

Gastelum’s miscue overshadowed the comebacks of two stars on Friday with the annual pay-per-view back in Las Vegas after a one-year hiatus in 2014. Anderson Silva (186) and Nick Diaz (185) still received a boisterous welcome-back from the crowd ahead of their middleweight main event, though.

Brazilian fans chanted and cheered as Silva came out from behind the backstage curtain for the first time in 13 months. They yelled, “You’re going to die,” in Portuguese to Diaz when the former Strikeforce champion walked to the scale for the first time in nearly two years.

“Anderson is great,” Diaz said in his final public comments before the bout. “He’s the best there is. I’m here to fight the best there is. I just want to thank everyone for standing by me, everybody back at home in Stockton, 209. We’re taking on the world here one fight at a time.”

Silva bowed for his fans and smiled throughout the proceedings.

“I’m so happy because one year (ago), I broke my leg,” he said. “When I talked to my family, my family said, ‘No more back for fight. Done,’ but this is me. This is my life.”

Gastelum didn’t get publicly scorned on stage from his opponent, as Woodley just posed for the staredown and patted him on the back. Another perpetual weight-struggling contender, flyweight John Lineker, wasn’t as fortunate.

Lineker weighed 130, four pounds heavy, before his bout with Ian McCall (126) to miss weight for the fourth time in eight UFC fights. McCall charged at Lineker, shouting and flashing an obscene gesture as UFC President Dana White separated the two before they ever faced off.

Diaz and Silva staredowns, in the past, have produced some of the tensest moments in the history of weigh-ins. But on Friday, Silva resorted to no gimmicks or strikes. Diaz didn’t even stand in his patented elbows-at-the-head pose.

The fighters kept their distance and embraced afterwards. Miesha Tate (135.5) vs. Sara McMann (135.5) gave fans one of the most climatic encounters. The former women’s bantamweight contenders got inches from each other’s faces but shook hands after breaking apart.

They got the loudest reaction from the crowd aside from the main event and the boos for Gastelum and Lineker. Their opponents still accepted the fight, but Gastelum and Lineker must forfeit 30 percent of their purses.

“I go to fight a great show for all the people here,” Silva said.

Check out the full results from the UFC 183 weigh-in below.

Middleweight bout: Anderson Silva (186) vs. Nick Diaz (185)

Welterweight bout: Tyron Woodley (170.5) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (180)

Lightweight bout: Joe Lauzon (156) vs. Al Iaquinta (156)

Middleweight bout: Thales Leites (86) vs. Tim Boetsch (185.5)

Welterweight bout: Jordan Mein (169.5) vs. Thiago Alves (171)

Women’s bantamweight bout: Miesha Tate (135.5) vs. Sara McMann (135.5)

Middleweight bout: Ed Herman (186) vs. Derek Brunson (186)

Flyweight bout: Ian McCall (126) vs. John Lineker (130)

Middleweight bout: Rafael Natal (185.5) vs. Tom Watson (186)

Featherweight bout: Diego Brandao (142) vs. Jimy Hettes (146)

Welterweight bout: Richardson Moreira (185.5) vs. Ildemar Alcantara (185)

Middleweight bout: Tiago Santos (185.5) vs. Andy Enz (186)

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

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