Chidi Njokuani recalls bizarre UFC 330 weigh-in incident with commission officials in Philadelphia

Chidi Njokuani has opened up about the visible confusion that inconvenienced him at the weigh-ins for his welterweight (170-pound) fight at UFC 330. 

The 37-year-old indicated that it was due to a faulty setting of the official weighing scales onstage. He even appeared to lightheartedly jibe at the Pennsylvania SAC (State Athletic Commission). 

Chidi Njokuani successfully made weight for his UFC 330 clash against Joel Alvarez, albeit he was inconvenienced by a faulty scale

Chidi Njokuani was initially booked to fight Geoff Neal in a welterweight matchup at UFC 330, but Neal's withdrawal resulted in the UFC roping in Spanish MMA fighter Joel Alvarez for it. 

Njokuani and his late replacement opponent, Alvarez, succeeded at making the welterweight limit, which is 170 pounds for title fights and 171 pounds for non-title matchups. 

Both Njokuani and Alvarez hit the scales at 171 pounds each for their non-title match. Nevertheless, Njokuani needed multiple attempts on the scales, as they signaled that he was overweight. 

Chidi Njokuani revisits bizarre weigh-in incident related to his UFC 330 fight

Chidi Njokuani defeated Joel Alvarez via unanimous decision in the prelims' headlining match at UFC 330 in Philadelphia on Saturday, August 15. 

During his post-fight press conference, Njokuani was asked about the seemingly strange weigh-in incident. "Chidi Bang Bang" implied that the UFC weigh-ins entail weighing in on a digital scale backstage before coming onstage and weighing in on the manual scales officially. 

He seemed to suggest that even if a fighter proves to be overweight while weighing in backstage, they're expected to head onstage, step on the manual scales to show they're overweight, and then head backstage to cut more weight until they feel they've cut down to their division.

It's noteworthy that, on the contrary, some fighters choose to forfeit a percentage from their fight purse for missing weight and compete regardless. 

The Muay Thai and kickboxing veteran recounted the bizarre event wherein he was admittedly close to getting into a fight with the commission officials. He stated, "But I weighed in on the scale in the back with my underw**r on, and I was on weight... And so that's why I was looking at the commission."

Njokuani continued, "I didn't know what was going on. And they're like, 'You're gonna have to cut.' I'm like, 'I'm not cutting anything, bro. I'm gonna cut this moth*rf**ker if he doesn't get his sh** together.' So I'm not cutting no more weight." 

Moreover, Njokuani highlighted that this was how the confusion came about not only for himself, but also to the commission officials. 

He said, "And then they messed with the scale. They put it on the right weight. Then I stepped on it, and it worked out." 

Presently, the consensus is that Njokuani would be looking to continue his winning ways, as his victory at UFC 330 helped him break a two-fight losing streak. He also dealt with the passing of his coach, Saeksan Janjira, earlier this month. 

Watch Chidi Njokuani discuss the weigh-in incident from UFC 330 below (*comments at the 4:52-minute mark of the video):