Chidi Njokuani stood his ground against the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission.
Njokuani scored an upset win over Joel Alvarez via unanimous decision at UFC 330. “Chidi Bang Bang” subsequently explained why he had to step on the scales twice at the official weigh-ins before the fight.
Chidi Njokuani says faulty scale reading led to second UFC 330 weigh-in
Njokuani initially weighed in half a pound over the non-title 171-pound limit, before returning shortly after to successfully make weight behind the privacy screen. He blames the confusion on athletic commission officials.
Njokuani claims he had made weight with his underwear on backstage on the digital scales. When he missed weight on the official scale, the commission asked him to cut the remaining weight. However, he says he refused to cut weight any further, even jokingly threatening the official in charge of the scales.
“They make us weigh in on the digital scale in the back first,” Njokuani said at the post-fight press conference. “They double-check, make sure you’re on weight before you go out there… I weighed in on the scale in the back with my underwear on and I was on weight. So, they were like, ‘Alright, go out there and weigh yourself.’ And then I was a pound heavy. That’s why I was looking at the commission; I didn’t know what was going on. They're like,'You're going to have to cut,' and I'm like, 'I'm not going to cut anything.' I'm going to cut this motherf*cker if he doesn't get his sh*t together. They tried it again, put the scale on the right weight and then I stepped on and it worked out.”
With his win over Alvarez, Njokuani snapped a two-fight skid and improved his record to 26-12.