UFC 321 official weigh-in highlights from Abu Dhabi
Highlights from UFC 321 official weigh-ins ahead of Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane and Virna Jandiroba vs. Mackenzie Dern.
Fall River native Mitch Raposo’s dream of being a UFC fighter has come with plenty of adversity.
But on Saturday while fighting nearly 7,000 miles from home in Abu Dhabi on the prelims of UFC 321, Raposo (10-3) tasted UFC victory for the first time in his career with a unanimous decision win over Azat Maksum (30-26, 29-27, 29-27).
The former Durfee High wrestler fell to his knees and was overcome with emotion when the judges scores revealed him as the winner. Raposo was at least a +300 underdog on sportsbooks and was giving up 6 inches in reach to Maksum (15-3). Maksum also outweighed him by three pounds (129) for the flyweight bout (125).
Raposo, 27, lost the first round on two of the three judges scorecards, but rebounded to win the second and third with strong boxing combinations and takedown defense. In the third round, Maksum was penalized a point for a fence grab while trying to deny Raposo from moving into the mount.
“Today I was so scared to fight, but maybe that’s what I needed,” told UFC commentator and former champion Daniel Cormier in the post-fight interview. “…Mom, dad, I love you guys so much.”
Raposo had lost his first two UFC fights under difficult circumstances. He made his debut on UFC 302 (June 1, 2024) on two weeks notice and lost a split decision to the still undefeated Andre Lima. Lima also committed three fouls in the second round.
In his return, Raposo lost a close decision to Su Mudaerji (29-28 on all three cards).
