In theory, UFC weigh-ins should be drama-free. In reality, UFC weigh-ins in 2017 have often been more theatrical than the events that follow them. That’s what we saw Friday morning in Buffalo, N.Y., as UFC 210 competitors cut down to their contracted weights one day before they set foot inside the Octagon at KeyBank Center.
Every fighter from the preliminary card and undercard had made weight when Daniel Cormier stepped on the scale in his birthday suit. The UFC light-heavyweight champion weighed in at 206.2 pounds, 1.2 pounds over the limit for light-heavyweight title bouts.
Cormier immediately walked backstage but emerged two minutes later for a second attempt. According to New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) rules, fighters competing in championship bouts are allowed to weigh in a second time if they miss on their first attempt.
Miraculously, Cormier was 205 pounds on the dot on his second attempt.
How a severely dehydrated person loses 1.2 pounds in two minutes is a mystery. If Cormier did manage to lose the weight in that short amount of time, bravo. Unfortunately, that’s not what it looks like happened in this situation.
As you can see in the video above, Cormier pressed down on the towel that was being used to shield his naked body. It appears Cormier could have done this to alleviate some pressure on the scale. This went unnoticed by the commission.
NYSAC executive director Anthony Giardina was asked if he knew how Cormier lost the weight so quickly.
“No. We don’t ask that question,” Giardina responded. “I heard that it was excessive sweat but he might have been holding the towel. Your videos would show that if he was holding the towel…I didn’t see it. Either way he weighed 1.2 pounds less and he weighed in at 205 exactly.”
Cormier answered questions from reporters following the weigh-ins, but denied holding the towel with the purpose of cheating the scale.
“What does doing that do? I don’t understand,” Cormier said. “It’s not something I’ve done before, no, I just wanted to make sure I didn’t show my junk.”
Cormier’s opponent, Anthony Johnson, has a history of missing weight in smaller divisions but he weighed in at 203.8 pounds while wearing sweatpants.
So there you have it. The UFC 210 main event is official, even though Cormier’s peculiar weigh-in was marred in controversy.
That wasn’t the only bit of drama either.
It was looking as though a strawweight fight between Pearl Gonzalez and Cynthia Calvillo was going to be cancelled because Gonzalez has breast implants. Gonzalez was eventually cleared to fight following a NYSAC review.
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Here are the official UFC 210 weigh-in results with video highlights below courtesy of Sportsnet MMA contributor James Lynch. You can follow him on Twitter @LynchOnSports:
MAIN CARD
— Daniel Cormier (205) vs. Anthony Johnson (203.8)
— Chris Weidman (185.8) vs. Gegard Mousasi (185.8)
— Cynthia Calvillo (115.6) vs. Pearl Gonzalez (116)
— Patrick Cote (170) vs. Thiago Alves (170.6)
— Will Brooks (155.4) vs. Charles Oliveira (152.8)
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Mike de la Torre (146) vs. Myles Jury (145)
— Sean Strickland (170) vs. Kamaru Usman (170.2)
— Shane Burgos (146) vs. Charles Rosa (145.2)
— Jan Blachowicz (204.2) vs. Patrick Cummins (205.4)
— Gregor Gillespie (154.8) vs. Andrew Holbrook (156)
— Josh Emmett (155.6) vs. Desmond Green (154.2)
— Irene Aldana (135.6) vs. Katlyn Chookagian (134.8)
— Magomed Bibulatov (126) vs. Jenel Lausa (124.8)
