UFC 158 Weigh-in Controversy Rekindled… by Georges St-Pierre

Following his loss to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 158, Nick Diaz and his camp recently stirred a hornet’s nest of controversy over the Quebec commission (the Régie des Alcools, des Courses et des Jeux) decision to not count decimals when weighing the fighters for the event. That meant that for their bout, either fighter could have weighed up to 170.9 pounds, but it would be recorded as 170 pounds by the commission.

Diaz’s camp’s complaints hit the press about two weeks ago. The slowly fading controversy found new life on Thursday from an unlikely source… Georges St-Pierre.

Canadian news site LaPresse.ca published an interview with St-Pierre, in which the UFC champion revealed that he wasn’t sure, but believed his weight on the scale that day amounted to 170.4 pounds.

By the standards of most UFC championship bouts, in which combatants must hit the exact mark or under, St-Pierre would have been considered over the allowed weight limit of 170 pounds. The Quebec commission, however, rounded his weight down, making his official weight 170 pounds.

It should be noted, however, the St-Pierre weighed in with boxer briefs on. Had this been under the jurisdiction of other commissions that don’t round the weight down, he would have been allowed to remove his briefs and weigh-in again to see if he made weight sans clothing.

The commission admitted that it did not take decimals into account, but stood by its weigh-in day determination that “no contestants exceeded the weight determined in their contracts.”

Jonathan Tweedale, a Diaz representative, issued a statement about the situation to MMAWeekly.com at the time, accusing the commission of not operating within the contractually agreed upon parameters of the fight.

“The Quebec Commission’s statement is a disappointing admission that the March 16 event was not conducted under the rules applicable to a UFC title fight – or under the rules the fighters contractually agreed to, upon which rules Mr. Diaz was entitled to rely under his bout agreement,” wrote Tweedale.

“The Quebec Commission deliberately relaxed the rule in this case and, by its own admission, allowed their home-town fighter to ‘make weight’ even if he weighed more than the contracted weight.”

The initial outcry over Tweedale’s claims appeared to dissipate more and more by the day, but St-Pierre’s comments to LaPresse have stirred the hornet’s nest, perhaps giving new legs to Tweedale’s initial declaration.

“In the circumstances,” wrote Tweedale, “Mr. St-Pierre remains legally and ethically obligated to fight Mr. Diaz at 170 pounds or else vacate the belt in favor of those prepared to fight at welterweight.”

Attempts to confirm St-Pierre and Diaz’s exact weights with the Quebec commission had gone unanswered at the time of publication.

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