UFC Fighter Forced to Dress Like a Man to Make Weight for UFC Saudi Arabia

Mayra Bueno Silva has explained why she dressed like a man to make weight for her UFC Saudi Arabia fight.

The UFC returned to Saudi Arabia last February when former champion Israel Adesanya faced Nassourdine Imavov, who won their middleweight showdown by knockout.

On the undercard, Silva fought Jasmine Jasudavicius in a women's flyweight bout.

It marked the 34-year-old's return to the women's flyweight division, having campaigned in the women's bantamweight division.

But the Brazilian has returned to the 135lbs division after experiencing a 'brutal' weight cut to 125lbs for her last UFC appearance.

For her bout against Jasudavicius, which she lost by unanimous decision, Silva struggled to make weight before hitting the mark at the official weigh-ins.

She eventually made weight after taking drastic action.

Mayra Bueno Silva made weight for her UFC Saudi Arabia bout after using a sauna. Image: Getty

Silva was prohibited from using the sauna as women can't enter the same facility as men in Saudi Arabia.

But desperate times call for desperate measures as Silva's team prompted to dress her like a man to allow her into the sauna so she could lose the final pounds to make weight.

"Not a single drop of sweat would come out. I couldn’t sweat, couldn’t make it happen," she told MMA Fighting of her gruelling weight cut ahead of her UFC Saudi Arabia clash. "I had no energy left. I couldn’t go to the sauna because women can’t enter the same sauna as men in Saudi Arabia, and the hotel only had sauna for men.

"The bathtub alone wasn’t enough anymore, training wasn’t enough, and I didn’t have a sauna. Nothing I did could make me sweat, so we had no options left."

Mayra Bueno Silva lost her UFC Saudi Arabia bout. Image: Getty

Silva added: “Then Flavio and Pablo had the brilliant idea to dress me up like a man and sneak me into the sauna [laughs]. That’s when the weight finally started to drop again, and we managed to make weight."

'Sheetara' is on a three-fight losing streak and hasn't won a fight inside the famed Octagon since February 2023 when she beat Lina Lansberg.

She will be aiming to snap her losing streak when she faces Jacqueline Cavalcanti at UFC Fight Night: Bonfim vs. Brown.