MMA fans and experts were left in disarray as a fighter due to compete on UFC 301 tomorrow night arrived 3lb under the featherweight limit at today’s weigh-ins.
French fighter William Gomis looked withered as he arrived for the weigh-ins at the fighter hotel in Rio De Janeiro this morning. He even broke tradition and kept his clothes on as he was assisted on to the scales by coaches and UFC staff.
Eventually, commission officials tipped the scales until he weighed in at 143lb, meaning that he over shot what was likely a gruelling overnight cut. The moment confused pundits and officials alike, but it appears wouldn’t stop the Frenchman from fighting Jean Silva tomorrow night.
William Gomis causes confusion with bizarre clothed weigh-in for UFC 301 fight
William Gomis has never missed weight before in his 15 professional fights, including multiple cuts to the 145lb limit. Non-title bouts in MMA allow fighters to come in 1lb over the 145lb featherweight limit as a grace, which his opponent Silva did when he tipped the scales at 146lb.
He arrived in a t-shirt and shorts which he kept on for the weigh-ins. Generally, fighters will strip down to their underwear in order to negate the pounds that would be added by clothing, while some even ask for a towel to cover them as they remove even their underwear if the weight cut has been particularly tough.
Commentators watching on were amazed by the moment, which was the polar opposite of what usually happens when fighters show up gaunt at weigh-ins. Often, it means that they have missed the limit and are too heavy, or barely made it after a gruelling cut.
‘What is going on?’… Confusion as UFC 301 fighter comes in under weight for fight
At six-foot tall, Gomis is a larger featherweight, which caused concern for fight veterans Paul Felder and Daniel Cormier on the broadcast. The former two-weight world champion noted that he ‘must be way over’ as officials tipped the scales, before it was announced that he was, in fact, considerably under.
After clarifying that Gomis wasn’t fighting at bantamweight, the panel on the UFC weigh-in show were clearly confused. “What happened?” Cormier asked, before joking that his team “could have given him three waters.”
Host Jon Anik then noted that Gomis is likely even lower than 143lb without his shirt and shorts, which had clear water stains on them. Cormier then added that the whole situation was “one of the most odd things I’ve ever seen at a weigh-in.”
Experts question how William Gomis will recover in time for UFC 301 fight
Cormier then asked the panel: “How does he actually recover from that? Because generally whenever we see that, remember the girl who got on the scale and she went back and almost fell down and everybody was like ‘pull her out of the fight’?
“She ultimately got pulled but she did miss the weight, though. That dude was in such bad shape, but think about if they say ‘oh he’s in such bad shape’, he’s underweight by 4lb almost! So he made the weight… I wonder what happened.”
MMAFighting’s Guilherme Cruz then reported that “Apparently he threw up moments before weighing in.” Cruz also added that “Commission doctors were following him closely.”