UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier caused quite a stir during the the weigh-ins for his UFC 210 title fight against Anthony Johnson last April in Buffalo, New York. After tipping the scales at 206.2 pounds, DC stepped out for a moment and came back, this time weighing in at the 205-pound mark.
Cormier was believed to have used the towel as leverage to take the extra pound off the scales, a move which rival Jon Jones branded as “one of the dirtiest things he’s seen in sports.” But on their part, the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) acknowledged that there were indeed shortcomings during the event.
“There were mistakes all around there,” newly-promoted NYSAC executive director Kim Sumbler told MMA Fighting on Friday. “We learned from it. We changed our policy. We’re making sure that not only does the fighter not touch the towel, but that nobody else touches the towel except commission staff. As you noticed, it was not commission staff who held the towel at the Dan Cormier fight.”
A two-decade ban on MMA was imposed on the state of New York in the early 90’s, and was only lifted in March 2016. Since then, the UFC had already held three fight cards in the state, and all of which were marred by some form of controversy. From their end, the NSYAC already amended their weigh-in policies, and approved an instant replay system after the Chris Weidman vs. Gegard Mousasi mess, both at UFC 210.
Sumbler admitted that the commission may have been overwhelmed by all the pressure, and welcomed the criticisms that have been thrown their way.
“It was a trial by fire. We got thrown into the pit of snakes,” Sumbler said. “We had the spotlight on us. We had every eyeball in this whole community on us. We were the last state to regulate [MMA]. Every eyeball was on us, waiting for us to slip up. Yeah, that was really hard to take. But again, I have to go back and say, they weren’t wrong. A lot of these criticisms — the people who criticized us — weren’t wrong. So there’s nothing wrong with speaking your mind.”
“I’m willing to take the criticism. I’ve got some pretty heavy shoulders and I’m willing to take it. I’m willing to listen,” Sumbler added. “I want people to realize this athletic commission now and this staff right now is really a good staff. We’re a staff that looks at what’s going on, we look at it realistically. We’re not an authoritative powerhouse.
“That’s not our philosophy any longer. We look at things realistically, we look at what the community wants and needs, we look at what’s right for the fighter and we make our decisions based on that — criticisms or not.”
The next assignment for the NYSAC is the upcoming UFC 217 card on November 4th at Madison Square Garden. It will feature three title fights, headlined by the middleweight championship between Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre.