"We need to be on digital scales" - Dustin Poirier addresses Charles Oliveira's historic weight miss at UFC 274
Dustin Poirier is not a fan of the classic balance beam-style scales being used by athletic commissions for UFC weigh-ins. These balance beam scales aren't seen too much outside of the gym or a physician's office, and Poirier wants to know why such an old technology is used when we now have digital scales that can be calibrated perfectly.
The subject came up during Dustin Poirier's appearance on THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas in regards to Charles Oliveira's recent weigh-in miss at UFC 274. Oliveira was stripped of the lightweight title after being unable to cut a final half pound to hit the 155 pound championship limit.
VIDEO: Charles Oliveira weighs in at 155.5 lbs on his second attempt one hour after missing on his first attempt at 155.5 lbs.
Lightweight title will be vacated. Fight is still on and only Gaethje will be eligible to win it. If Oliveira wins, belt remains vacant. https://t.co/zbuVhQbOFl
While UFC officials ended up blaming a digital scale back at the fighter hotel, Poirier wants the beam scales removed from the equation. He said:
"We need to be on digital scales so there's no gray area, all right? You can't have a guy there tapping a weight balance scale and it's kind of balancing and he says it's a half pound or whatever. We need exact numbers. You get on a digital scale, it shows up on the screen, that's your actual weight. I don't like the guy tapping the balance scale."
Watch the interview with Dustin Poirier below:
Interestingly enough, some pundits have claimed 'the guy tapping the balance scale' is essential because they've ignored slight weight misses in the past to avoid massive controversies like Oliveira. At UFC 254, officials performed a 'read and rack' where they didn't allow the bar to settle before declaring lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was on weight for his fight against Justin Gaethje.
ICYMI. Khabib and Gaethje made weight earlier today. Both 155. Khabib was first.
(That’s a veteran move by the official manning the scale, eh?) https://t.co/oukFztLLza
Dustin Poirier believes Charles Oliveira could have done more to make weight at UFC 274
Asked by Teddy Atlas whether he thought Oliveira had tried his best to drop the extra half pound before being stripped of his title, Poirier said:
"They weren't carrying him out, he wasn't stumbling around. He's always really lean and he's long and tall so he looks slim. He's a big guy, but he didn't look like he needed to be helped. He still had life left in his body. He could have, it looked like, tried to lose more weight. It's a championship fight!"
Oliveira showed up with just five minutes left before the scales were closed, which seemed to be some sort of mind game gone wrong. He was then given one hour to shed the extra half pound, which he couldn't do.
While he was visibly drawn out, Dustin Poirier is correct in saying he didn't look like a fighter that had just been dragged out of the sauna and carried to the scale.