Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President, Dana White, was so incensed over his fighters’ inability to make weight, that he recently threatened to move the entire process back to late afternoons, which in turn would punish the majority of combatants who hit their respective marks without incident during the early weigh-ins.
But former welterweight title contender, Stephen Thompson, argues that it’s not the time of day that trips up most fighters, it’s a lack of discipline, coupled with a lack of consequences from the promotion and stateside commissions.
After all, why should fighters who are too big for their weight class go through those final grueling hours before tipping the scale — leaving them combat ineffective on fight night — when they can simply fork over a small percentage of their fight purse and show up heavy?
Yes, he’s looking at you, Darren Till (via Submission Radio).
“For [Till] to be actually fighting for the title, man… and they’re wondering why people aren’t making weight. Because there’s no consequences. Yeah sure, he wasn’t getting paid much for that (Liverpool) fight, so of course he won’t make weight. Give 20 or 30 percent or whatever it was to move up the rankings. So now, I mean, he’s probably getting crazy money to fight now, so I bet it was worth it. And the UFC is like, why aren’t these guys making weight? Because there’s no consequences. You know, no real consequences. A lot of people will give them 30 percent and move up the rankings because their next fight will be more money. It’s just a sacrifice at the moment for a bigger gain later on.”
Till is hardly the first offender.
Thompson dropped a unanimous decision to “The Gorilla” at UFC Liverpool back in May, a bout that saw the local hero blow up the scale by 3.5 pounds. That didn’t stop Till from getting a title shot in his very next outing, though he had a little help from this vacationing nerd-basher.
Fortunately for fight fans — and unfortunately for Kamaru Usman, reigning welterweight champion, Tyron Woodley, plans to fight Till regardless of what happens during the weigh ins, though I would imagine a hiccup at UFC 228 next weekend in Dallas would make this move a foregone conclusion.
For much more on UFC 228 click here.
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