UFC Fight Night 89: Rory MacDonald, Stephen Thompson set to clash in Ottawa

Canadian Rory MacDonald and American Stephen Thompson both made weight Friday for their UFC main event welterweight showdown Saturday in Ottawa.

MacDonald, ranked No. 1 among welterweight contenders, and Thompson, ranked No. 2, each weighed in at 170.5 pounds Friday. The public weigh-in was held at 5 p.m. at TD Place Arena where the televised fight card will take place Saturday.

It's the first fight for MacDonald (18-3-0) since a bloody fifth-round technical knockout loss to welterweight champion Robbie Lawler last July.

Meanwhile, Thompson (12-1-0) has won six straight fights, stopping former champion Johny Hendricks during his last fight in February.

"My expectation is same as always. I'm going for the knockout or submission. Best performance of my life," said MacDonald, a native of Kelowna, B.C., who fights out of Montreal. "I've never had a better training camp or preparation. I feel that this is going to be my best moment."

It's the last fight on MacDonald's UFC contract. He has turned down the UFC's offer to re-sign him, hoping a win can make him an attractive free agent.

Canadian misses weight, surrenders portion of purse

The UFC is experimenting with an earlier weigh-in the day before a fight to help its athletes rehydrate and recover from cutting weight. Ottawa was the second time the organization went with a morning weigh-in.

The fighters have applauded the move and several opted for some props to liven up the late-afternoon show, which seemed stiff at times with an official pretending to read weights off a scale that had in fact been registered earlier that day at a suburban hotel.

American Sam Alvey donned a wig to spoof the luxuriant locks of Toronto middleweight Elias Theodorou, who in return offered him a can of something. Montreal lightweight Olivier Aubin-Mercier came onstage with a container of muffins, offering them to French opponent Thibault Gouti.

Valerie Letourneau, a Montreal native who trains at American Top Team in Florida, brought her nine-month-old dog, Angelina, on stage with her. And American middleweight Sean O'Connell's cornerman blew bubbles as his fighter squared off with Steve Bosse of St-Jean Sur Richelieu, Que.

Strawweight Randa Markos of Windsor, Ont., was the only one of 26 fighters to miss weight. She stepped on the scales at 117.5 pounds, 1.5 more than the limit.

Her fight will go on with American opponent Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger taking 20 per cent of Markos' purse.

It's the UFC's 20th show in Canada and first in Ottawa.