OTTAWA — Canadian Rory (Red King) MacDonald and Stephen (Wonderboy) Thompson both made weight Friday for their UFC main event welterweight showdown Saturday night.

MacDonald, ranked No. 1 among welterweight contenders, and No. 2 Thompson each weighed in at 170.5 pounds Friday morning at the host hotel. The public weigh-in, mainly for show, was held at 5 p.m. at The Arena at TD Place where the televised fight card will take place Saturday.

It's the first fight for MacDonald (18-3-0) since a bloody fifth-round TKO loss to champion (Ruthless) Robbie Lawler last July.

Thompson (12-1-0) has won six straight, stopping former champion Johny (Bigg Rigg) Hendricks last time out in February.

"My expectation is same as always. I'm going for the knockout or submission. Best performance of my life," said MacDonald, a native of Kelowna, B.C., who fights out of Montreal. "I've never had a better training camp or preparation. I feel that this is going to be my best moment."

It's the last fight on MacDonald's UFC contract. He has turned down the UFC's offer to re-sign him, hoping a win can make him an attractive free agent.

The UFC is experimenting with an earlier weigh-in the day before a fight to help its athletes rehydrate and recover from cutting weight. Ottawa was its second go-round at a morning weigh-in.

The fighters have applauded the move and several opted for some props to liven up the late-afternoon show, which seemed stiff at times with an official pretending to read weights off a scale that had in fact been registered earlier that day at a suburban hotel.

American Sam (Smile'n) Alvey donned a wig to spoof the luxuriant locks of Toronto middleweight Elias (The Spartan) Theodorou, who in return offered the redhead a can of ginger beer. Montreal lightweight Olivier Aubin-Mercier came onstage with a container of muffins, offering them to French opponent Thibault Gouti.

Valerie (Trouble) Letourneau, a Montreal native who trains at American Top Team in Florida, brought her nine-month-old dog Angelina on stage with her. And American middleweight Sean O'Connell's cornerman blew bubbles as his fighter squared off with Steve (The Boss) Bosse of St-Jean Sur Richelieu, Que.

Strawweight Randa (Quiet Storm) Markos of Windsor, Ont., was the only one of 26 fighters to miss weight. She stepped on the scales at 117.5 pounds, 1.5 more than the limit.

Her fight will go on with American opponent Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger taking 20 per cent of Markos' purse.

It's the UFC's 20th show in Canada and first in Ottawa.

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