UFC 325 Fight Pulled From Card Hours Before Event After Weigh-In Controversy

The UFC was forced to remove a fight from the upcoming card in Sydney after a massively controversial moment during the weigh-ins for the event.

Just one week after returning for a huge card in Las Vegas, Nevada, the UFC is holding the second major card of 2026 as UFC 325 gets underway in Sydney, Australia.

Featherweight champion and home hero Alexander Volkanovski will defend his belt against former foe Diego Lopes in the main event of the card, with Dan Hooker fighting Benoit Saint-Denis in the co-main event.

Ahead of the card on Saturday night, every fighter set to compete on the card were required to weigh-in to ensure they didn't exceed the weight limits set in place for their fight.

All appeared to be going smoothly during , until the UFC was forced to pull a fight from the card due to one fighter breaking a key rule about the weigh-ins.

First up to the scales in the early hours of Friday was both parts of the main event, as both Volkanovski and Lopes successfully made the featherweight championship limit of 145lb (65.8kg).

But concerns started to rise as Kiwi fighter Aaron Tau was nowhere to be seen after every other fighter on the card had shown up.

Tau, scheduled to fight Namsrai Batbayar in a flyweight bout, eventually showed up right at the last minute and stepped on the scales behind a curtain which allows fighters to take off their clothes to further reduce their weight.

The 32-year-old first weighed in comfortably below the limit for a non-title fight at flyweight of 126lb (57.15 kg), with the scales reading 122.25lb (55.45kg).

Weigh-in commentators Chris Weidman and RJ Clifford immediately raised questions about why Tau would have needed to use the curtain, typically reserved for tight weight cuts, when he was so far below the limit.

However, eagle-eyed UFC staff then asked Tau to once again step onto the scales for a second time, with the Kiwi then weighing 129lb (58.5kg), which is 3lb over the limit.

The staff had noticed that Tau had used a trick previously used by UFC legend Daniel Cormier in 2017 which has since been referred to as the "towel trick"

Ahead of his light-heavyweight title fight against Anthony Johnson, Cormier weighed in 1.2lb (0.54kg) over the 205lb (92.98kg) light-heavyweight limit.

The American did later manage to weigh in at exactly 205lb, but was seen resting his hands on the towel being used to cover his body, therefore reducing his weight.

Cormier went on to win the fight via submission and later admitted that he "may have grabbed the towel" to make weight, but denied any wrongdoing.

Following Tau missing weight by such a drastic amount, the UFC has announced that his fight against Batbayar has been removed from the UFC 325 card.