UFC fans recently went after Daniel Cormier for using a towel to cheat the scales during a weigh in several years back. The former two-division champion denied cheating when faced with scrutiny.
Of course the bigger story is that UFC gave Cormier preferential treatmeant – unlike what Charles Oliveira had to go through over half a pound infraction.
UFC veteran Daniel Cormier was accused of cheating during the weigh in session for his bout against Anthony Johnson at UFC 210 back in 2017. ‘DC’ can be seen grabbing the towel used to cover his body and pressing it down in purpose to make weight.
With that trick, Cormier managed to shave a pound and a half off his weight. The first time he stepped on the scale, he weighed 206.2 pounds. The second time, he held onto the towel covering his body and the scale showed 205 pounds.
Previously, Daniel Cormier criticized Charles Oliveira for failing to make weight for a title bout at UFC 274. UFC lightweight Tony Ferguson then brought up Cormier’s trick on Twitter which Cormier immediately refuted.
How Not to Make Weight Ladies & Gentlemen. Shoulda Stripped Em’ Like They Did @CharlesDoBronxs Shout Out To All Those Doin’ It Right & Keepin’ The Sport Clean 🧼 – Champ 🎓 -CSO- 🇺🇸🏆🇲🇽 # CuttingWeight Feeling Great 👍 @espnmma pic.twitter.com/2WxzhYtjOT
— Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) May 11, 2022
“You really think I grabbed that towel?” Cormier wrote.
As everyone can see Cormier clearly grabbed the towel and pushed it down. Obviously, the rest of the tweet came from UFC fans who got irritated by Cormier’s rebuttal. One fan even provided a clear picture of the moment.
Daniel Cormier denying he cheated contradicts what he said not long ago. During one episode of his show ‘The DC Check-In’, the 43-year-old bragged about the towel trick that he invented.
“Obviously you remember how I … uh … made the weight for the ‘Rumble’ fight, you know what I’m saying? You remember how I got it done over there. Remember I’m up there making sure I don’t put too much pressure down on it, so I don’t go down too low! But it’s real, when you have a bad weight cut, it [doesn’t] come back. Cormier said.
Another fighter who pulled the same trick was former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 254. Khabib weighed 154 the first time when holding the towel, after being asked to lower his hands, he was also afforded leniency – the scale indicator didn’t actually stop moving prior to Nurmagomedov’s weight getting announced.