UFC 140 weigh-in: Fighters remain tame at Air Canada Centre

By Case Keefer (contact)

Friday, Dec. 9, 2011 | 4:15 p.m.

TORONTO — Fans craving conflict or bad blood left the UFC 140 weigh-in disappointed Friday evening at the Air Canada Centre.

The 24 fighters on the card were unanimously cordial, shaking hands with their opponents and posing for stare-down photos without any necessary interference from UFC President Dana White.

Perhaps the friendly tone of UFC 140 starts at the top of the card, where light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and challenger Lyoto Machida have shown great respect for each other all week. It continued after both made weight to make their title fight official.

“This is an awesome opportunity against an awesome opponent,” Jones told the crowd after weighing in. “I’m just so grateful for the whole situation. I can’t wait to go out and play this game that I’m so in love with.”

Jones (205) received a mostly positive welcome, but attracted a few scattered boos. Although Jones is mostly well liked among mixed martial arts fans, some have described him as arrogant since winning the championship belt earlier this year.

The response for Machida (204) wasn’t as loud, but the former champion wasn’t booed either.

“It’s a great opportunity for me,” Machida said. “I’m very well prepared and I hope I do a great job.”

Some of the Canadian fans also greeted Las Vegas heavyweight Frank Mir with a negative reaction when he walked across the stage to the scale. Mir came in at 260 pounds, the same weight he was in his UFC 130 victory over Roy Nelson.

He’ll have a size advantage over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who weighed four pounds less than his last appearance at 239 pounds.

The other featured contest on the pay-per-view card had the most intense square off. Tito Ortiz got inches away from Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, as the two glared into each other’s eyes to the sound of hundreds of camera clicks. Ortiz weighed in at 206 pounds, a pound-and-a-half more than “Little Nog”.

The two hometown fighters on the main card, Claude Patrick (171) and Mark Hominick (145), garnered warm greetings.

One athlete on the card came in over weight. Dennis Hallman, a 15-year MMA veteran attempting a drop to the UFC lightweight division for the first time in 10 years, weighed 158.5 pounds. That’s two-and-a-half pounds over the limit, meaning Hallman will have to sacrifice 20 percent of his purse. His bout with John Makdessi (155.5) is now officially a 158-pound catchweight affair.

Check below for the full results from the UFC 140 weigh-in.

Light Heavyweight Championship Bout: Jon Jones (205) vs. Lyoto Machida (204)

Heavyweight Bout: Frank Mir (260) vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (239)

Light Heavyweight Bout: Tito Ortiz (206) vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (204.5)

Welterweight Bout: Claude Patrick (171) vs. Brian Ebersole (170.5)

Featherweight Bout: Mark Hominick (145) vs. Chan Sung Jung (145.5)

Light Heavyweight Bout: Krzysztof Soszynski (206) vs. Igor Pokrajac (205)

Middleweight Bout: Jared Hamman (185) vs. Costantinos Philippou (185)

Lightweight Bout: John Makdessi (155.5) vs. Dennis Hallman (158)

Bantamweight Bout: Yves Jabouin (136) vs. Walel Watson (135.5)

Lightweight Bout: Mark Bocek (156) vs. Nik Lentz (156)

Middleweight Bout: Rich Attonito (170.5) vs. Jake Hecht (170.5)

Lightweight Bout: Mitch Clarke (154.5) vs. John Cholish (156)

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