NYSAC head tries to explain weigh-in debacle
NYSAC head: “I heard it was excessive sweat and he might have been holding the towel, but I don’t know for sure.”
With just minutes to go, Daniel Cormier weighed in at 206.2 for his title fight vs. Anthony Johnson in the main event of UFC 210 on Saturday. There is no extra pound for title fights. Cormier was already nude. If he missed weight, the fight would go on, but not for the title.
Less than three minutes later, Cormier weighed in at 205 on the nose. He used a trick that doesn’t even work in high school anymore – he appeared to be holding up the towel in the interest of modesty, but actually was pressing down, with 1.2 pounds of force.
Cormier wasn’t even subtle and the inspectors missed it.
Executive director Tony Giardini tried to explain.
I didn’t see it, said Giardini to Dave Doyle for MMA Fighting. Either way, he weighed in 1.2 pounds less the second time.
Fighters are not supposed to even get a second try on the scale under the new California-pioneered early weigh-ins. NY apparently has a champions clause, however.
The policy of the athletic commission in championship bouts is to allow fighters to get on the scale a second time if the fighter is overweight the first time he gets on the scale, said Giardini. So he came in, and he was 1.2 pounds overweight the first time he got on the scale. He’s allowed, under commission policy, up to two hours to get back on the scale. He got back on a short time later, and he weighed in at exactly 205. So according to the commission policy, it’s a legal weigh-in, and he’s right on weight. That’s only for championship fights.
So how did DC drop 1.2 pounds in 2.4 minutes?
We don’t ask that question, said Giardini. I heard it was excessive sweat and he might have been holding the towel, but I don’t know for sure.
FloCombat asked for an official statement in writing, and apparently got it.
It's OK, y'all. We asked NYSAC for an official statement in writing and they provided it. #UFC210 pic.twitter.com/xuv8GQ6VYw
— FloCombat (@FloCombat) April 7, 2017
The NYSAC needs to go back to MMA commission school.