UFC
Anthony Johnson's camp blames weigh-in day illness for UFC 142 weigh-in snafu
Jan 13, 2012 - 9:00:03 PM Anthony Johnson's camp blames weigh-in day illness for UFC 142 weigh-in snafu

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Anthony "Rumble" Johnson's failure to make weight on Friday for his UFC 142 bout with Vitor Belfort was due to an illness, according to his management.

In comments made to Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole, Authentic Management's Glenn Robinson claims that Johnson fell ill three hours before weigh-ins, and was given fluids by a UFC doctor, leading to his 197 lb. weigh-in. Further, Robinson contends that Johnson awoke Friday morning at 191.5 pounds, and would not have had an issue getting to 186 were it not for the illness.

Regardless, Johnson needs to weigh-in under 205 lbs. tomorrow in order for the fight to go on as planned, and he will lose 20% of his purse for the fight because of missing weight.

Penick's Analysis: If Johnson's camp's story is correct, and it was a UFC doctor that was giving Johnson fluids, then Dana White's response to the issue was harsh this afternoon. Johnson did come in egregiously overweight, and it is unprofessional regardless of the reason to be that heavy, but it's a little more understandable under these circumstances. At the least, if this is why it happened, he's at less risk of being cut from the UFC after tomorrow's event, but either way it doesn't look good to come in as over weight as he did with his history of issues on this front.