Late-notice replacement fighter, Christopher Ewert, will not make his Octagon debut tomorrow night (Sat., June 28, 2025) at UFC 317 LIVE on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, after the Chilean fighter was 10 pounds off weight earlier today during official weigh ins (replay HERE) and was advised to stop cutting.
I guess they call him “El Tanke” for a reason.
Ewert was called into action earlier this week for a short-notice fight against fellow UFC newcomer, Jackson McVey. This came after McVey’s original opponent, UFC middleweight Sedriques Dumas, was unable to fight because he couldn’t get his ankle monitor removed in time (this is a real thing). Ewert was only given a few days to get his weight down, but the career middleweight seemed ready to go.
Unfortunately, Ewert got nowhere near the 186-pound benchmark needed to make his UFC 317 debut official. Instead, Ewert was about 10 pounds overweight when UFC doctors stepped in and informed him he couldn’t cut anymore weight. His bout against McVey was subsequently canceled and Ewert was immediately released from the UFC roster.
What makes things worse is that Ewert was scheduled for an appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series this August. That opportunity seems to have been taken away as well. Maybe Ewert and his team should not have accepted this short-notice fight if they knew he couldn’t get close to weight, but hindsight is always 20/20.
Thoughts on Ewert’s egregious weight cut and UFC release?
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 317 fight card right RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the UFC 317 PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 317: “Topuria vs. Oliveira” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 317 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
