Chidi Njokuani wasn’t having any of the commission’s nonsense at weigh-ins.
On Saturday night, Njokuani scored an upset win over Joel Alvarez at UFC 330. But before the fight ever took place, Njokuani’s first battle was with the Pennsylvania athletic commission at weigh-ins the day before.
When Njokuani first weighed in, he came in a half-pound over the 171 limit and looked surprised at his miss. And apparently that’s because he says someone on the athletic commission screwed up.
“They make us weigh in on the digital scale in the back first,” Njokuani told reporters in his post-fight scrum. “They double-check to make sure you’re on weight before you go out there. If you’re heavy, they know that you’re heavy first; you go out there, weigh in, show everybody that you’re heavy, and then go and cut.
“I weighed in on the scale in the back with my underwear on, and I was on weight. So they’re like, ‘Alright, go out there and weigh yourself,’ and I was a pound heavy. That’s why I was looking at the commission. I didn’t know what was going on.”
In the end, everything worked out for Njokuani as he returned shortly afterward and made the 171-pound limit with the use of the privacy screen. But before that happened, Njokuani said he got a little testy backstage.
“They were like, ‘You’re going to have to cut.’ I’m like, ‘I’m not cutting anything. I’m gonna cut this motherf*cker if he doesn’t get his shit together. [Laughs] I’m not cutting no more weight,’” Njokuani said.
“So that’s where the confusion came from. So we went back, tried it again, then came back, and they messed with the scale, put it on the right weight, and then I stepped on, and it worked out.”
It certainly did, as not only did Njokuani avoid a fine, but he picked up a clear unanimous decision win over Alvarez, stopping a two-fight losing streak.