NY State Athletic Commission: Al Iaquinta did not qualify for lightweight title
UFC lightweight Al Iaquinta poses at the UFC 223 ceremonial weigh-ins on Friday, April 6, 2018 at Barclays Center. Credit: Ryan Gerbosi
Al Iaquinta weighed in at 155.2 pounds, with his underwear accounting for the two-tenths overage on Friday morning. There was no re-weighing for him, so was it possible to discount his clothing and make him title-eligible on Saturday night?
“I looked through our regulations to see if there was any provision in there that we could make that kind of exception,” said Kim Sumbler, executive director of the New York State Athletic Commission on Saturday night before UFC 223 at Barclays Center. “There is not.”
That was just of the unique aspects from Friday’s weigh-ins that left people wondering. Iaquinta weighed in at 155.2 pounds for a scheduled lightweight fight against Paul Felder, then was bumped up to the main event, a lightweight title fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov after Max Holloway missed weight. For a fighter to compete for the title, they must be exactly at or below the number, in this case, 155 pounds.
“The commission is actually the one who decides whether somebody makes weight, and he did not weigh in as a lightweight fighter,” Sumbler said. “He weighed in at 155.2. That puts him in the next bracket. I can’t qualify him to fight for that title.”
Nurmagomedov beat Iaquinta by unanimous decision, making it a non-issue.
On Friday night, UFC president Dana White said Iaquinta would be the champion if he beat Nurmagomedov. Sumbler acknowledged before the fight that the Commission couldn’t stop that.
“The promotion owns the belt,” she said. “If Dana chooses to give him that belt, I can not officially record him as the 155-pound champion. But I also can’t say Dana can’t give him that belt. That’s Dana’s belt. But when [Iaquinta] goes to fight or defend that belt in another jurisdiction, that’s when we’re going to come across the issue if, ‘Is he really? Is he not? Are they going to certify him?” That’s a bridge we’re going to have to cross when we get there.”
Sumbler said that Felder’s name was thrown around as a potential opponent for Nurmagomedov but was “never, ever presented to me as a potential opponent.”
Anthony Pettis was another potential opponent. He weighed in at 155.2 pounds before the 11 a.m. deadline, but under NYSAC rules would have had another two hours to make the weight.
“I asked Anthony to look me in the face, with everybody there, UFC, us, our team, our medical doctors, and I said, ‘Anthony do you want to lose the weight?’” Sumbler said. “He said, ‘No I don’t.”
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
