McKee stripped of Title at MFC 32 after missing weight

Maximum Fighting Championship Owner/President Mark Pavelich stripped Antonio McKee of his lightweight belt after the longtime veteran weighed in seven pounds over the limit for his scheduled title fight against Brian Cobb on Friday night.

The McKee-Cobb encounter will now be a three-round, non-title affair at a catchweight as the co-headliner of MFC 32: Bitter Rivals emanating from the Mayfield Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, and live on HDNet Fights starting at 10 p.m. ET/8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT (check local listings for channel designation).

McKee (26-4-2) stepped off the scale at 162 pounds, resulting in the forfeiture of his title. Cobb (19-6) was also over the allowable 155-pound mark, albeit by just a half-pound.

“I am extremely disappointed and incredibly frustrated by the fact that McKee missed weight by such a ridiculous amount,” said Pavelich. “That’s completely unacceptable, particularly for a fighter with the years’ of experience that he has in this sport.

“The MFC has taken his belt and he won’t ever wear it again.”

There was far less drama in the other half of the co-main event as Wilson Gouveia (12-8) look very comfortable stepping off the scale at 204 pounds, and his opponent Dwayne Lewis (12-7) stood tall at 205 pounds. Welterweight rivals Nathan Coy (9-4) and Dhiego Lima (6-0) provided the most fireworks at the weigh-in as they went nose-to-nose before being separated.

The winners of the Coy-Lima and Diego Bautista-Ryan McGillivray fights have been assured a shot at the MFC welterweight championship.

MFC 32: Bitter Rivals

Weigh-In Results

Light-Heavyweight

Wilson Gouveia – 204

Dwayne Lewis – 205

Lightweight

Brian Cobb – 155.6*

Antonio McKee – 162**

Welterweight

Diego Bautista – 170

Ryan McGillivray – 171

Welterweight

Nathan Coy – 169

Dhiego Lima – 171

Welterweight

Jamie Toney – 169

Kyle Jackson – 170

Lightweight

James Haddad – 158***

Dan Ring – 154

Lightweight

Matt Jelly – 155

Garrett Nybakken – 155

Middleweight

Brendan Kornberger – 184.6

Allen Hope – 186

*Brian Cobb weighed one-half pound over 155 limit for lightweight title fight

**Antonio McKee weighed seven pounds over 155 limit for lightweight title fight and is stripped of his title

***James Haddad weighed two pounds over 155 limit for lightweight bout and loses 20% of his purse