Conor Benn at his lightest since 2019 as he and Ryan Garcia make weight
Sep 11, 2026 • 1:22 PM ET
Zuffa BoxingLAS VEGAS – After all the speculation, worrying and doubts, Conor Benn literally put a cap on it Friday, weighing in at 146lbs – a full pound below the welterweight limit, and his lightest since June 2019, as he heads to Saturday night’s WBC title fight versus champion Ryan Garcia.
Making his first title defense, Garcia, 25-2 (20 KOs), weighed in at 145.5lbs which is one pound lighter than his weight when beating Mario Barrios for the title in February.
The consternation hovered over England’s Benn, 25-1 (14 KOs), all week considering he last made the welterweight limit more than four years ago after his high-profile doubleheader of 160lbs scraps with U.K. rival Chris Eubank Jnr last year.
The first of 18 fighters to step on the scale here at the UFC’s Meta Apex, Benn effectively thumbed his nose at Garcia’s week-long taunting of the difficult weight cut by wearing both his underwear and a WBC baseball cap while atop the scale, flexing in delight as Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Jeff Mullen announced the weight.
Garcia, meanwhile, is at his lightest since his April 2024 bout with Devin Haney.
Right after, WBC cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaelian and unbeaten former IBF champion Jai Opetaia both made weight for their co-main event at T-Mobile Arena.
Opetaia, 30-0 (23 KOs), weighed 199lbs and Mikaelian, 28-3 (12 KOs), was right at the 200lbs limit.
The pay-per-view card, on Paramount+ in the U.S. and DAZN globally, will also feature Da’Mazlon Vanhouter (231.5lbs) versus Raphael Akpejiori (246lbs) in a heavyweight bout and lightweight Mark Magsayo (134.5lbs) versus Andres Cortes (135lbs) on the main card.
In preliminary action:
8 rounds, lightweights (contracted weight limit 132lbs): Oswaldo Medina 131.5lbs, Pablo Rubio 131lbs
8 rounds, super middleweights: Abel Gonzalez 168.5lbs, Raul Salomon 167lbs
6 rounds, junior middleweights (contracted weight limit: 152lbs): Vlad Panin 151.5lbs, DakotaLinger 150.5lbs
10 rounds, welterweights: Jose Ramirez 146.5lbs, Alexis Rocha 146.5lbs
6 rounds, lightweights: Sean Garcia 134lbs, Abraham Morales 134lbs
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.
