Kelvin Gastelum and his coach, Rafael Cordeiro, have been punished for a UFC 244 weigh-in incident.
Ahead of his UFC 244 bout with Darren Till, Gastelum tipped the scales at 184 pounds. Gastelum used a towel so he could take off his clothes despite having wiggle room on the scale. While nothing seemed amiss initially, many called into question whether or not Gastelum leaned on his coach to manipulate the weight shown on the scale.
Here’s video footage of Gastelum’s weigh-in courtesy of Mike Heck.
UFC 244 was held in New York City and the NYSAC investigated Gastelum’s actions. They have decided to fine Gastelum $1,000 for making contact with Cordeiro. The coach was fined $200. The two are suspended until they have paid off their fines in full.
Ahead of UFC 244, Cordeiro insisted to MMAFighting that his fighter did nothing wrong.
“People are tripping,” Cordeiro said. “I went there to check his weight. How am I going to lift him two pounds with my chest? They are crazy. They are tripping. It’s drama to sell the fight. There’s no way. There’s no way.
“There were two athletic commission officials there, I was in front of the whole world… That’s impossible. It doesn’t even cross my mind to try to break the law. The kid made weight, two pounds under. He did his job. He was the last one, he was sweating, running like a maniac, working hard, and got the job done. Everyone has a mouth and can say whatever they want.”
