‘The Korean Zombie’ Shows Multiple Ways To Cheat At Weigh-ins

MMA weigh-in attempts can be manipulated in multiple ways. That is according to Chang Sung Jung, probably better known as ‘The Korean Zombie’. He is coming off a spectacular first round finish over former champion Frankie Edgar, in the main event at UFC Busan in December.

‘The Zombie’ is currently recovering from eye surgery and decided to dig into one of MMA fans’ favourite theories, uploading a video with Road FC fighter Seung Min, on his YouTube channel (as transcribed by MMA Fighting) showing different ways to cheat at the weigh-ins.

While debunking a few myths related to the topic, ‘The Zombie’ demonstrated some of the common examples.

UFC fans might remember a very famous case of the ‘towel-gate’. At UFC 210, when Daniel Cormier faced Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson in attempt to retain his UFC light heavyweight title, he originally weighed in 1.2 pounds over the championship limit. ‘DC’ would return just minutes later to miraculously weigh in at exact 205 pounds.

Further review showed Cormier gripping the towel, thus using a trick from his wrestling days to pass the scale. The New York State Athletic Commission would ultimately change its rules to prevent manipulation at the weigh-ins as a result.

A similar incident happened at UFC 240, when Hakeem Dwadou was the last to hit the scales ahead of his fight against Yoshinori Horie. Hakeem managed to weigh in at 146 pounds, but might’ve been helped by some fabric.

One of the more unknown measures ‘The Korean Zombie’ has seen fighters on the scale in the past, is what he calls the ‘finger skill’.

“I’m not sure if I’m able to talk about this, but this is probably one of the biggest weigh-in scamming methods that the fighters have used. Once a fighter gets up on the scale to weigh-in, the fighter’s second will stand right next to them to check and see if they have met the required weight. If the fighter hasn’t, with one finger, they will slightly lift the fighter’s bottom. This is one of the most interesting methods I have seen. I’m not even applying pressure, but just slightly using my finger to lift Seung Min up. I’m literally doing nothing, just slightly touching him.”

“Let’s say the required weight was 143 [pounds], and with the underwear off, the fighter weighed in at 142, I would go ahead and suspect that something is off if you find the fighter’s second standing behind them. Dropping to 142 from 143 all because a fighter removed a piece of clothing is very rare. The underwear does not weigh one full pound.”

The number four ranked UFC featherweight also demonstrated what happens when he applied more of a push to Seung Min, it took off nearly eight pounds off the scale.

“I’ve witnessed this a lot,” he said. “I am just sharing this in hopes of preventing it from ever happening again. During a weigh-in, if you spot their second standing behind them, they both need to be seriously penalized.

“I’m sharing these because I want the MMA industry to be a better place. Stopping the fighters from tricking the system might be a place to begin.”

Obviously the video was bound to cause a backlash in the MMA community, but ‘The Zombie’ believes that both fighters and fans should be educated on the manner.

“If our fans are aware of what the fighters are doing, maybe it’ll somehow stop them from doing it,” he said. “Cutting weight is harder than the actual fight. If you’re not committed to cutting your weight and you end up cheating at the weigh-in, you’re being unfair to the person who made the cut the honest way.”

MMA Fighting asked several UFC fighters for their opinion on ‘The Korean Zombie’s’ video.

Jalin Turner: “That video was funny lol. I learned a lot and I’ve definitely seen fighters use those techniques before and didn’t even notice. I never knew there were so many was to cheat the scale. Could have helped me out the one time I missed weight (laughing jokingly).”

Cody Stamann: “Honestly, this is an amazing breakdown of what a weight cut actually is to someone who doesn’t understand. People will never understand the real hell that a weight cut is though. I would go more in depth about the pain, aches, racing heart that an extreme dehydration brings. Big fan of ‘The Korean Zombie’. Hope he gets a shot at the title.”

Lauren Murphy: “That’s crazy. I didn’t know most of those, especially about those girls pinching the fabric to make weight. I’ll be watching like a hawk now.”

What did you think of ‘The Korean Zombie’s’ video?


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