Did Kelvin Gastelum give it the ol' towel try at UFC-Shanghai weigh-ins?

SHANGHAI – Whether he wanted to or not, Daniel Cormier put the infamous “towel trick” back in the spotlight earlier this year.

At UFC 210, Cormier came in heavy at 206.2 pounds in his first attempt on the scale for his light heavyweight title defense against Anthony Johnson at the official weigh-ins. After going backstage for just a couple minutes, he returned to try again – legal for a title fight in New York, it was explained later – and was 205.

When it appeared he was holding the towel – an old-school wrestling trick for helping take just the smallest amount of pressure off the scale to get those last few ounces off – there was plenty of backlash, though he denied any wrongdoing.

But it may have inspired other fighters to try to use the towel or scale to their advantage. Earlier this year at Bellator 180 in New York, Sergio da Silva tried all kinds of tricks on the scale and was shut down by the NYSAC at every turn. In July at UFC on FOX 25, when Eryk Anders thought about touching the towel, the NYSAC again was there in a hurry, wanting nothing to do with the kind of criticism it took at UFC 210 in Buffalo.

But today in China, Kelvin Gastelum didn’t have the NYSAC to fear. When Gastelum (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) first got on the scale for his middleweight fight against ex-champion Michael Bisping (30-8 MMA, 20-8 UFC), he was 187 pounds – one pound too heavy for the non-title limit.

Gastelum had a towel held up while he was on the scale, even though he wasn’t fully undressed. And upon close review, it sure looks like the towel is being pinched from Gastelum’s side in a way that wouldn’t happen if it was hanging naturally. When the towel is removed, Gastelum’s hand appears to be in position to have been pinching the towel while on the scale.

Of course, it was moot – if he was touching the towel in any way, he still was 187 pounds … and he still was not fully undressed. When he was told he could remove his shorts for another try, the towel seems to be untouched except by the officials holding it up – and on that attempt, Gastelum was on the mark at 186 to make his fight with Bisping official.

So … you be the judge. Were there towel shenanigans going on during Gastelum’s first attempt? Is it just a weird camera angle? Is the light playing tricks? Or is it all much ado about nothing?

Regardless, Gastelum and Bisping have a meeting in the UFC Fight Night 122 headliner Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai. The entire card streams on UFC Fight Pass.

UFC Fight Night 122 takes place Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai. The entire card streams on UFC Fight Pass.

For more on UFC Fight Night 122, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

The Blue Corner is MMAjunkie‘s official blog and is edited by Mike Bohn.