Anthony Johnson is claiming that he doesn’t want Daniel Cormier stripped of the UFC light heavyweight title following their fight at last weekend’s UFC 210 pay-per-view event. Johnson denied part of his appeal to the New York State Athletic Commission includes a directive to strip Cormier of the title and take 20 percent of his purse in an Instagram post that has since been deleted.
“First and foremost I never said I wanted D.C. stripped of the title,” Johnson wrote. “He beat me and that’s that…2nd I said everything would be handled After the fight because I was focused on the Fight. Weigh-ins was messed up, and at the end of the day it was wrong. If I lose fans because I’m fighting for what’s right then so be it. If it happen to me, it can happen to anybody. The world made all of this noise about it and when an appeal is made the world will cry about the appeal. That makes zero sense!
“Weigh-ins was messed up and the fight wasn’t because he beat me. I’m not complaining about the loss, I’m complaining about the weigh ins. D.C. shouldn’t be stripped at all but for sure answer to the weigh-in situation. If you hate me you hate that’s what you have to deal with. If you love me then I love you back…Btw this definitely isn’t about money, that’s for damn sure. It’s the principal of the situation for you knuckleheads that have no brain.”
Johnson’s claim is directly different in an appeal filed Wednesday by attorney Craig Zimmerman, who represents Johnson and his manager, Ali Abdelaziz. The appeal notes that Cormier should be punished for his actions if he fails to provide “an evidence and fact-based explanation for his conduct,” and “should Mr. Cormier be subject to discipline, while it is clear he could be suspended for his actions, at a minimum, Cormier should be ordered to pay 20 percent of his fight purse to Johnson as well as Cormier be stripped of the title for failing to make weight prior to the fight.
Zimmerman told MMAjunkie that while Johnson would accept the outcome of Johnson being stripped, that isn’t necessarily the fighter’s goal in filing the appeal
“I think you need to take the post in its entirety,” said the attorney. “When you talk to Anthony, he is very upset about how the weigh-in went. He feels he was cheated; he felt that ‘DC’ cheated at the weigh-in. He doesn’t want to see anyone else have that happen. At the same point, what I think he was trying to say was, he doesn’t want it to seem as if he’s trying to fight the fight. He acknowledges he lost the fight. The issue is, he wants the NYSAC to acknowledge ‘DC’ came in overweight and go from there, as if that’s how he weighed in, as overweight. If, as part of their decision, they don’t strip him of the title, Anthony is not going to make a big issue of that. If they do, he’s fine with it. He wants the acknowledgement that the weigh-in went bad, that he was overweight, and that no one else has this happen to them.”
The majority of this appeal all centers around Cormier’s behavior on the scale the day prior to the fight. It’s well known that Cormier came in 1.2 pounds heavy for the title bout, which made people believe that it would be a non-title bout. Champions who miss weight are stripped of the belt in a title fight, with only the challenger eligible to win it. However, the NYSAC revealed that per their commission rules, champions are afforded a second try within an additional two hours, giving Cormier one more chance to make weight, which he did. What was weird about it was that Cormier was seen holding the towel when he stepped on the scale, which could have thrown off his number.
“Daniel Cormier is a well-decorated wrestler,” states the appeal. “Before each and every wrestling match or professional mixed martial arts fight, Cormier was required to weigh in and meet an agreed upon weight. If he failed to do so, he was aware of the consequences. Given this illustrious wrestling and fighting history, Cormier keenly understands the importance of a fair and honest weigh in yet he chose to, inexplicably, grab the towels in front of him while on the scale. He must be called upon to explain, under oath, to the NYSAC, Anthony Johnson, the general public, the UFC, his fellow fighters, and the sport of mixed martial arts, the reason for his actions at the weigh-in on April 8. After such sworn testimony, if Mr. Cormier could not, or would not, or did not satisfactory (sic) provide an evidence and fact-based explanation for his conduct then he should be disciplined for his action by the NYSAC to preserve the integrity of the sport.”
Zimmerman is wanting the NYSAC to further scrutinize the sequence of events that allowed Cormier to shed the pounds in a short period of time.
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