Video | Overeem Explains Weigh-In Tardiness

Earlier this morning, the 22 fighters competing at UFC 203 took to the scales to weigh in for their looming battles. The major drama of this weigh-in event was that Alistair Overeem – one half of the evening’s main event – arrived late.

If UFC 203 was occurring in Nevada, Overeem’s tardiness could have resulted in the cancellation of his main event title fight with heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. This was very nearly Miesha Tate’s fate at the UFC 200 weigh-ins back in July. Thankfully, the card will occur in Ohio, where things are a little less stringent. Overeem’s punishment will apparently be a fine of $500 – probably just a drop in the bucket for a fighter of his caliber.

Moments after he finally weighed in (tipping the scales at 248.5 lbs), Overeem spoke to Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com to discuss his lateness.

“I was a little bit lazy, we were a little bit slow,” Overeem said of his punctuality issues. “I didn’t know that I was that late.” 

“It’s a new procedure,” Overeem continued, referencing the UFC’s new, early weigh-ins. “We’re doing the official weigh-ins in the mornings, and this is my first time doing it like this in the morning. It was from 9:00 to 11:00 and I was here at 11:00 exactly.” 

“I’m half Jamaican… you know Jamaicans,” Overeem joked. “But we’re here, we weighed in. It’s all good I guess.”

Despite his tardiness, Overeem is now officially cleared to fight Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title tomorrow night. Though he is a slight underdog leading into this encounter, he seems to have a real chance at adding another belt to his crowded mantle, which already includes Strikeforce, Dream, and K-1 gold.

What do you think about Overeem’s late arrival to the weigh-ins, and do you think he can beat Miocic tomorrow night? Sound off, PENN nation!