There was likely some funny business at play when Daniel Cormier weighed in for his most recent title defence.
Ahead of his rematch with Anthony Johnson at UFC 210, Cormier arrived at the scales in Buffalo, New York at 206.2lbs with just minutes remaining before the weigh-in deadline.
Needing to make 205lbs, ‘DC’ disappeared for no more than two minutes before reappearing, somehow on weight.
It’s been suggested that Cormier lay his hands on top of the privacy towel, which was being used to shield his manhood from the reporters in attendance, and that took the necessary weight off the scales – 1.2lbs in this case.
But however he did it, Cormier ensured the scales read 205lbs on the Friday afternoon and the fight was made official for Saturday.
Roughly 36 hours passed and ‘DC’ successfully defended his title for the second time by submitting Johnson via rear naked choke in the second round but a startling revelation has since emerged about Cormier’s weight.
Venerable referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy was in charge of the bout and he has revealed that Cormier was weighed on fight night too and, according to McCarthy, the 38-year-old put on a hell of a lot of weight overnight.
“Dan Cormier just had his championship fight against ‘Rumble’ Johnson,” McCarthy told MMAJunkieRadio, as he explained the dangers of severe weight-cutting.
“There was a whole thing about the weight issue there but we’ll say he weighed in and it was 205lbs. He was 236lbs the night of the fight! That’s way too much weight.
“He was weighed! That’s how much he was weighing, 236lbs. He did have sweatpants on but that’s crazy.
“That’s how much weight he’s losing to get to that weight. How unhealthy is that? And how unhealthy is it putting that weight back on?
“This is the worst thing that we have for fighters’ safety and health going on right now that we don’t have a lot of people trying to do something about.”
