No, Ricco wasn’t involved this time. Props: Shark Fights on Twitter

If we were to tell you that Ricco Rodriguez was involved in another weigh-in fail during last night’s Shark Fights 17 at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas, it’s doubtful that too many readers would be surprised. The guy kind of has a history of missing weight. However, in a turn of events that prove even the MMA gods have a sense of humor, this time it was his opponent Karl Knothe coming in heavy for the 230 pound catchweight fight.

Those of you who remember our post from Thursday are probably a little confused for two reasons. Number one, we already told you that Karl Knothe has competed mostly as a light heavyweight, making it seem odd that he would show up overweight for a fight at 230. Also, we never mentioned that the fight was a catchweight bout. You’re not alone: No one told Karl Knothe about this, either. According to MMAJunkie.com: Both Rodriguez’s camp and Shark Fights officials said the bout was agreed to a catchweight of 230 pounds while Knothe allegedly believed it to be a heavyweight contest. When Knothe weighed in at 253.75 pounds to Rodriguez’s 227.75 pounds, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation disallowed Knothe from [Friday’s] event due to the large gap and concerns over excessive weight-cutting from the heavier fighter. In the same article, Shark Fight’s owner Bud Brutsman says that Karl Knothe’s manager never told him about the catchweight limit. Somebody needs to give this guy Mike Dolce’s number and a competent manager. Assuming “My manager didn’t tell me” isn’t a code for “Wow, I really botched that one, huh?”, of course.

Fortunately, things sort of worked out for everyone involved. Knothe was paid a portion of his salary for his efforts, while Rodriguez was given “The Carthage Killer” Doug Williams, a 5-12 fighter who Ricco previously defeated via first round Anaconda Choke back in 2009, as a replacement opponent. To say that this fight was over before it started is an exaggeration, but only by about twenty seconds. Ricco takes Williams down in the opening frame and it’s only a matter of time before he gets the submission.

In the main event, UFC veteran Jake Rosholt avenged an earlier loss to Matt Horwich, plodding out a unanimous decision. After the fight, he emphasized that he wants to get back in the UFC as soon as he can. Excluding his recent no-contest against John Ott, the victory makes it five straight for Rosholt.

Videos, courtesy of Steve Rattle MMA:

Full results, courtesy of ProMMANow:

Jake Rosholt def. Matt Horwich (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ricco Rodriguez def. Doug Williams by submission (Rear-Naked Choke) Rd. 1 (2:16)
Emanuel Newton def. Ilir Latifi by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Erik Perez def. Douglas Frey by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Alan Jouban def. Andrew Goldthwaite by TKO (punches) Rd. 3 (2:37)
Victor Hernandez def. Quaint Kempf by submission (arm bar) Rd. 1 (1:06)
Matt Hobar def. Jay Flores by submission (Rear-Naked Choke) Rd. 1 (1:55)