Christopher Ewert lived a dream and a nightmare over just a few days’ time after signing for a short notice fight at UFC 317 and then being cut from the promotion before he ever got a chance to compete due to missing weight for his matchup against Jackson McVay by 10 pounds.
It was announced just before the official weigh-ins started that Ewert was unable to make the contracted weight and he was immediately released. Ewert was originally scheduled to compete on The Contender Series in August before he accepted the short notice fight but his weight cutting disaster seemingly took that opportunity away from him as well.
Thankfully, Ewert got some good news in the aftermath of UFC 317.
The 31-year-old Chilean fighter is still going to get his chance to compete on The Contender Series with his fight booked on Aug. 19 against Yuri Panferov.
Sources confirmed the news to MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck following an initial report from ESPN reporter Carlos Contreras Legaspi.
Now obviously competing on The Contender Series doesn’t guarantee that Ewert gets another chance to make a first impression in the UFC but he can at least take solace that he’ll have the opportunity to right the wrong from this past weekend.
His coach Javier Torres previously informed MMA Fighting that Ewert tried desperately to get down to the middleweight limit after signing to accept the fight on short notice.
Despite their best efforts, Ewert still came up short and as a result, the UFC released him from his contract.
“We did try super f*cking hard,” Torres said. “We cut 22 pounds from Wednesday to Friday morning.”
The new season of Dana White’s Contender Series kicks off on Aug. 12 before Ewert gets his opportunity to impress UFC officials when he makes his debut on Aug. 19.
