Anthony Johnson’s Team To File Appeal Over Daniel Cormier’s UFC 210 Weigh-In

As we previously reported, Daniel Cormier missed weight on his first attempt at a weigh-in at UFC 210, coming in at 206.2 pounds. He tried again a couple of minutes later and came in at 205 pounds even. Cormier went on to defeat Anthony Johnson, resulting in Rumble’s retirement. Now, MMA Fighting reports that Johnson’s team is filing an appeal over the matter, believing that Cormier shouldn’t have had a second chance to weigh in.

Most MMA commissions, including those in California and Nevada, only allow one chance to make weight. Cormier would have been forced to forfeit his light heavyweight title and 20% of the fight purse. In New York, fighters still have another two hours to make weight. Here are highlights of an interview with Johnson’s lawyer Craig Zimmerman:

On why the appeal was filed: “Anthony’s opponent came in overweight. I don’t think anyone disputes that. He weighs in, he’s 206.2 roughly, and somehow a minute or two later, he goes backstage, he comes back out, they try it again, he leans on a towel and miraculously he makes weight. I’m a licensed promoter and attorney. I’m licensed in California. The weigh-in is one of the most sacred things in combative sports. Do both fighters meet the weight requirement? Particularly with a title fight, there’s not even a pound allowance. And if you miss weight, there’s a fine. I think we need three things. One, we need acknowledgment that the weigh-in was handled incorrectly. Two, we need DC to be fined the 20 percent he should’ve been fined for coming in overweight. And three, we need New York to clean up the weigh-in procedures so this doesn’t happen again.”

On his issues with the weigh-in: “Common sense applies. Even if he’s allowed to jump back on the scale, he jumped on a minute or two later, and somehow he miraculously loses 1.2 pounds? I’d like to know what he did. How many fights have you ever seen where a guy is leaning on the towel? This is a UFC title fight. It’s higher profile. There are a lot more people watching them than if this was just a regional show. If there are a lot more commissioners and people there to watch this; it’s not as if one person missed it. There are a lot of people who missed it. Someone should’ve stepped up. You just can’t turn your head. I’m not accusing the New York commission of anything, but isn’t it the job of any commission to ensure all the rules are being followed? And if someone misses it, they’re not supposed to be worried about, at least at the time, why it was missed. They need to correct the problem. No one said, ‘hey, ‘hey, ‘hey, he’s leaning on the towel. Hey, he came in overweight.’ No one cared, and I don’t understand how that happens. If it happens out here in California, you know the commission would be all over it. If it happens in Nevada, they would’ve been all over it. Almost every state, but somehow New York just let this go.”

On not overlooking the incident: “There’s video tape of it. The video was out right after it happened. Admit the mistake. It’s worse because they said, ‘oh, we didn’t see it.’ It happened. There’s no denying it happened. Fix your mistake right there, right then. People are talking about instant replay during the fight; what about instant replay during the weigh-in then? Looks like he’s leaning on a towel to me.”