Moicano-Nolan Set for UFC Vegas 123; Francis Marshall Misses by Two Pounds

UFC Vegas 123 has its lightweight main event. It also has one fighter paying for a miss at the scale.

Renato Moicano weighed 156 pounds and Tom Nolan came in at 155.5 on Friday in Las Vegas, making their five-round headliner official. Featherweight Francis Marshall was the lone fighter on the 12-bout card to miss, weighing 148 pounds for his fight with Dakota Hope. That put Marshall two pounds over the non-title limit.

The UFC's official weigh-in report says the fight will go ahead and Marshall will forfeit 20 percent of his purse to Hope. The promotion listed Hope at 145.5 pounds.

Hope made weight after taking the replacement call

The miss lands harder because Hope did his part after accepting the fight on short notice. MMA Fighting reported that Hope replaced Gaston Bolanos, who withdrew because of an eye injury, less than a month before the event.

Marshall did not leave the UFC with a second opponent search or a canceled prelim. He did leave Hope with a financial concession before they enter the cage. The official update matters here: early weigh-in coverage left the bout's status and penalty unresolved, but the UFC later confirmed both.

Moicano and Nolan cleared the last formal hurdle

There was no drama on the scale for the two men at the top of the card. Moicano hit the lightweight allowance at 156, while Nolan was half a pound lighter.

Moicano is trying to build on his April submission of Chris Duncan. That victory stopped a two-fight slide and put the 37-year-old back in a main event, this time against an opponent with momentum and much less top-level mileage.

Nolan enters his first UFC headliner on a five-fight winning streak. MMA Fighting noted that a sixth straight win would pull him level with Arman Tsarukyan and Quillan Salkilld for the longest active UFC streak at lightweight. Moicano is a serious jump in experience, especially over five rounds, but the Australian reached Friday without giving away anything at the scale.

The rest of the card stayed intact

All 23 other fighters made their contracted limits. Co-headliners Randy Brown and Jacobe Smith each weighed 170.5 pounds. Ode Osbourne and Cody Durden both registered 126, while Yana Santos weighed 135.5 for her bout with Luana Santos, who came in at 136.

The preliminary card is scheduled to begin Saturday at 5 p.m. ET, followed by the main card at 8 p.m. ET on Paramount+. Marshall-Hope remains on the prelims. Moicano-Nolan closes the show at Meta APEX.