Ethyn Ewing: Rafael Estevam's UFC Vegas 115 weight miss 'was a choice'

LAS VEGAS – Ethyn Ewing knew things wouldn't turn out well for Rafael Estevam well before they traded punches. Ewing (10-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) thought he had the win in the bag Friday morning after watching Estevam (14-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) miss weight for their scheduled bantamweight bout at UFC Fight Night 272 at the Meta APEX. The weight miss marked Estevam's third in just four fights in the UFC.

However, the previous weight misses came with him trying to fight at flyweight. He had moved up a weight class – getting 10 extra pounds to not worry about – and yet, he missed weight again, coming in at a half-pound over the bantamweight limit. "That's a huge lack of discipline, a huge lack of preparation, and a lack of respect, to be honest, to the sport, to the weight class, and to me as an opponent," Ewing told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC Fight Night 272 post-fight press conference.

"The guy fought at 125, so to miss weight at 135 is – I have no way to understand it, I'll be totally honest. "The only way that you could say it is that they chose not to make that weight. He said, '10 o'clock, it came too fast.

I had tried everything in my power,' and it was a choice. Whatever that means, a lack of preparation, a lack of discipline. It was a choice, at the end of the day.