Kiamrian Abbasov failed to make weight ahead of his upcoming bout against Christian Lee at ONE on Prime Video 4 and as a result he’s been stripped of his welterweight title.
Officials from
ONE Championship confirmed this news to MMA Fighting Thursday.
The fight will proceed as planned, but it now takes place at a catchweight 186.. 25 weights, reflecting Abbasov’s weight at the time he stepped on the scales early Thursday morning.
Lee successfully made weight, which means he’s still eligible to become ONE welterweight (185-pound) champion with a victory. Lee already holds the ONE lightweight (170-pound) title and he’s moving up to welterweight in an attempt to become a two-division champion.
Abbasov initially won the welterweight title back in 2019 when he defeated Zebastian Kadestam by unanimous decision to claim the belt. He then went onto defend his title against James Nakashima before coming up short in his own bid to become a two-division champion after falling to ONE middleweight (205-pound) king Reinier de Ridder.
It’s disappointing news for ONE Championship as this marks two consecutive events where champions failed to make weight ahead of title fights.
UFC veteran John Lineker suffered the same fate ahead of his most recent bout after he failed to make weight and he was stripped of his ONE bantamweight (145-pound) title. His fight with Fabricio Andrade ended in a no contest and the Brazilians are now scheduled to run it back on Feb. 10 at ONE on Prime Video 7.
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/11/17/23464412/kiamrian-abbasov-stripped-of-welterweight-title-after-missing-weight-ahead-of-one-on-prime-video-4?rand=96749
