The UFC lightweight division was hit with somewhat of a shake-up last month at UFC 274 despite the man atop the divisional mountain continuing his reign of terror.

Charles Oliveira became the first fighter in promotional history to be stripped of their title due to missing weight ahead of his clash with Justin Gaethje. “Do Bronx” weighed in just half a pound over the 155-pound weight limit after having some issues with the preparation scale before going out to the official scale. Due to the odd nature of how things unfolded and potential tampering, the UFC will now have someone watching over the scales at all times to prevent any similar future issues.

Regardless of the incident, Oliveira went on to do what he does best and that’s finish world-class fighters in incredible fashions. Needing just over three minutes and some wildly entertaining striking exchanges, Oliveira dropped Gaethje, followed him to the ground, and sank in an unforgiving rear-naked choke submission. The win extended Oliveira’s win streak to 11 straight.

Directly before facing Gaethje, Oliveira pulled off the same maneuver in his first successful title defense against Dustin Poirier in Dec. 2021 at UFC 269. Yet to compete again since then, Poirier looks to get back in the Octagon as soon as possible and was an invested viewer during the UFC 274 festivities.

“We need to be on digital scales so there’s no grey area,” Poirier said on THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas. “You can’t have a guy there tapping a weight-balance scale and it’s kind of balancing, and he just says it’s a half pound or whatever. We need exact numbers. You get on a digital scale, it shows up on the screen, that’s your actual weight. I don’t like the fact that these guys are tapping this balance scale.”

A former contender at featherweight, Poirier never had issues of his own with weight but realized when the right time was to return to 155-pounds. Like Poirier, Oliveira also spent a brief period at 145-pounds before going on the current best stretch of his career. However, weight problems have been a part of his story to an extent.

UFC 274 marked the fifth time in Oliveira’s 42-fight career that he’s missed the weight limit — two of those coming at featherweight. In Poirier’s mind, he believes his former foe could have put in a bit more effort, all things considered.

“They weren’t carrying him out,” Poirier said. “He wasn’t stumbling around. He’s always really lean, and he’s long and tall, so he looks slim. He’s a big guy, but he didn’t look like he needed to be helped. He still had life in his body. He could have, it looked like, tried to lose more weight. It’s a championship fight.”

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TOP STORIES

Options. Aljamain Sterling: Jose Aldo likely the ‘hardest fight’ but ‘T.J. Dillashaw definitely moves the needle — you can ask USADA’

Rivals. Jorge Masvidal addresses Colby Covington case, felony charges.

Warning. Dustin Poirier warns Michael Chandler about ‘dangerous’ matchups with himself and Conor McGregor, Chandler fires back.

Underdog. Jordan Leavitt ‘excited to cause a riot’ with victory celebration against Paddy Pimblett.

Rankings. MMA Pound-for-Pound Rankings, June 2022: Is Charles Oliveira a top-3 fighter in the world?

Backlash. Tom Aspinall fires back at Chael Sonnen criticizing his promo skills.

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VIDEO STEW

The champ is back, baby.

Top Finishes From UFC Vegas 56 Fighters.

Volkov vs. Rozenstruik – Still Hungry | Fight Preview | UFC Vegas 56.

Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk 1 | FREE FIGHT | UFC 275.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s Championship Reign.

Which Bantamweight Fighter Has The Best Knockout?

Aljamain Sterling on Coming Back and Retaining the Title After a Neck Injury.

Don’t Twerk In London – Believe You Me #402.

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LISTEN UP

DAMN! They Were Good. MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew and Shaun Al-Shatti are joined by Chuck Mindenhall to discuss the career of Michael Bisping.

Heck of a Morning. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck discusses if Jon Jones will fight before Conor McGregor and Henry Cejudo.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Workin’.

Amber lamps.

Banter.

Travel troubles are the absolute worst.

Meeting.

Name those celebs!

Last man standing.

That’s so Dan.

The champ is coming.

Holy foot.

Satoshi.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Jessica Penne (14-5) vs. Emily Ducote (11-6); UFC Long Island, July 16

Shane Burgos (14-3) vs. Charles Jourdain (13-4-1); UFC Long Island, July 16

Dwight Grant (7-4) vs. Dustin Stoltzfus (13-4); UFC Long Island, July 16

Matt Schnell (15-7) vs. Sumudaerji (6-4); UFC Long Island, July 16

Orion Cosce (7-1) vs. “Blood Diamond” Mike Mathetha (3-1); UFC277, Aug. 20

Ignacio Bahamondes (13-4) vs. Ľudovít Klein (18-4); UFC 277, July 30

Zarah Fairn (6-4) vs. Ailín Pérez (7-1); UFC Paris, Sept. 3

Alessio Di Chirico (13-6) vs. Roman Kopylov (8-2); UFC Paris, Sept. 3

Hannah Cifers (10-7) vs. Melissa Martinez (7-0); UFC Fight Night, Sept. 10

Leah Letson (5-2) vs. Chelsea Chandler (4-1); UFC Fight Night, Oct. 1

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Happy Friday, thanks for reading, and enjoy the weekend, gang! Sincerely, your reigning, defending, Between the Links champion.

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EXIT POLL

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If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.