Heading into UFC Vegas 104, Chidi Njokuani just couldn’t make it to the 170-pound mark for the fight against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos. However, he got something to cheer for as the scheduled fight turned out to be in favor of the Dallas native. Yes, Njokuani emerged victorious in the fight courtesy of a brutal knee strike that sent his opponent to oblivion.

Well, the weight miss wasn’t much, but Chidi Njokuani had to compete in a catchweight bout after missing the 170-pound weight limit by 1.25 pounds. The setback on the scales did not seem to affect him as he stepped inside the Octagon against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos. Njokuani was on the front foot from the get-go as he landed 46 of the 87 attempted strikes during the fight compared to his opponent’s 17 of 49 strikes until he ended the bout with a brutal knee strike.

Chidi Njokuani attempted a couple of knee strikes on Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos in the second round and the second one did the trick. He followed that knee strike up with a few ground and pound blows before the referee called for the end to the fight, with Njokuani standing tall.

Meanwhile, it may have been a mistake for the Brazilian star before he headed into the fight against Chidi Njokuani because he felt as if the Dallas native may have a disadvantage with his weight miss because he used to be a middleweight. “I think he had a hard time making 170, so it’s an advantage for me,” Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos told MMA Fighting prior to their clash. “He probably already had a hard time cutting weight for middleweight, and now he’s cutting even more for welterweight, so it’s a lot. It takes time to adapt.”

Well, it wasn’t an advantage after all, but did you know that this is not the first time that Njokuani has missed weight? Let’s take a look.

Chidi Njokuani has missed weight in many fights before coming to UFC

Missing weight seems to be something that Chidi Njokuani isn’t new to. The Dallas native has weighed over the limit in several fights before he made his way into the UFC. However, one of the most noticeable weight misses came when he fought for the former Bellator champion Rafael Carvalho at Bellator 224 in 2019, and that was a big miss.

The fight in question was a middleweight bout, where Chidi Njokuani weighed in almost five pounds over the limit, which is actually glaringly over the weight limit, resulting in his fight being a catchweight bout. Not only that, but he lost the fight via unanimous decision, which added salt to his wounds. Nevertheless, Njokuani has been able to avoid that mistake in the UFC until his UFC Vegas 104 outing. In fact, in his last fight, it was his opponent who missed weight. How ironic is that?

Although he missed weight, Chidi Njokuani is pretty much going to break into the top 15 in the welterweight rankings with his impressive performance, but what do you think of his knockout win? Drop your comments below.

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