Joe Rogan blames 'foreign' fighters recalibrating UFC scales to kilograms for Charles Oliveira weight debacle - "These guys were monkeying around"
Joe Rogan believes foreign fighters tampering with the scale led to Charles Oliveira's controversial weight miss fiasco. Echoing UFC president Dana White's notion, Rogan believes fighters trying to change the unit from pounds to kilograms disturbed the calibration of the scale.
The 54-year old told his guest Cameron Hanes on an episode of JRE:
"Here's a problem with these digital scales. Foreign fighters, they use kilograms and in America obviously we use pounds right. Like these scales are calibrated and then the foreign fighters would reset the scale so they could switch it back to kilograms. So f***s up the whole calibration."
The UFC color commentator further revealed that the UFC has adopted a new policy to guard the trial scale round the clock. According to Rogan, fighters getting on the scale will be keenly watched to stop them from "monkeying around."
"So now the UFC has a new policy because of this, where they have a guard who watches over the scale 24 hours a day. Like they have shifts, where no one can f*** with the scale. If you wanna get on that scale to try yourself, they're gonna watch you like a hawk and you don't press any buttons. You know, just get on, 'What's your weight?' Get off. These guys were monkeying around with the scale."
Watch the clip below:
Catch the full epsidoe of JRE featuring master bowhunter Cameron Hanes below:
Islam Makhachev has vowed to finish Charles Oliveira on the ground
Charles Oliveira was stripped off his lightweight strap after shockingly missing weight by half a pound going into the UFC 274 headliner against Justin Gaethje. Although he is no longer the champion, 'do Bronx' became the number one contender with an impressive submission win over Gaethje.
Surging Dagestani contender Islam Makhachev is now looking to fight Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight strap. While he was previously supposed to fight Beneil Dariush in a No.1 contender's fight, he argues that the bout has become irrelevant after Oliveira lost his strap.
Makhachev, with his combat sambo background, is not afraid to scrap with 'do Bronx' on the ground. The 30-year-old even believes he can secure a finish over the BJJ wizard. He recently told ESPN's Brett Okamoto:
"I grapple with the best grapplers in the world. I grapple with Khabib all my life. That’s why I don’t care about his grappling. I know I’m gonna take him down, make him tired, and I can finish him there. Everybody says grappling is his area, but I’m gonna finish him in his area... Honestly, I believe I can finish this guy, and I really want to finish him in the grappling, in his area, and I know I can do this.”
Watch Makhachev's interview with ESPN below: