Kelvin Gastelum and Darren Till will collide tonight in the co-main event of the UFC 244 card, with the bout marking Till’s UFC Middleweight Division debut.
Controversy reared its ugly head at the event as Gastelum, who made weight for the event, was seen making contact with his coach while weighing in, which is a violation of the rules by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC).
The fight will go on as planned, but the NYSAC did issue the following statement to ESPN on the matter:
“The Commission has reviewed the footage available to it at this time of Mr. Gastelum’s weigh-in. The official weight determination will not be disturbed, and Mr. Gastelum will not be disqualified from competing at UFC 244, as the possible contact indicated in the video cannot be said to have materially impacted Mr. Gastelum’s weight to the extent that it would have exceeded the applicable weight limit allowable for competition in the match. The Commission will continue to review the matter and disciplinary action will be pursued if clear evidence of contact with another person during the weigh-in process becomes evident, as any such contact is a violation of Commission policy.”
Gastelum doesn’t seem concerned about the situation at all, calling it “fake news” on Twitter:
#FakeNews Don’t believe everything you read. Lets do this tomorrow! Thank you all for your support! #UFC244
— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) November 1, 2019
Till seems to be on the same page as Gastelum, has he seems unconcerned about Elbow Gate ‘19:
“Everyone’s been sending me (the photos and videos),” Till said after the weigh-ins (via Mike Bohn & ken Hathaway of MMA Junkie). “If he did or he didn’t, it doesn’t matter to me because my coach told me a long time ago, ‘Any man over 70 kilos (154.3 pounds) should be able to defend himself, especially in the octagon.’ So for me – I’ve seen the video. Did he or didn’t he? I couldn’t give two (expletives). It’s a fight. If he was five or 10 pounds over or he actually made weight, it doesn’t change anything. I’m here for what’s fair. I want to earn my fairly I don’t want no money, I don’t want nothing. I just want to (expletive) fight.”
UFC 244 takes place tonight at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York with Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
