UNCASVILLE, Conn. – It’s a well-known theory in MMA that fighters tend to get crabby when they’re cutting weight, up to and including when they step on the scale.
And while that may have been the case for Brandon Girtz on Wednesday at the Bellator 250 official weigh-ins, it might not be what contributed to his brief verbal dustup with Mike Mazzulli, director of athletic regulations for the Mohegan Tribe and the man who oversees Bellator’s weigh-ins ahead of events at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
Girtz (16-9 MMA, 8-7 BMMA) stepped on the scale for his featherweight co-main event against Henry Corrales (17-5 MMA, 5-5 BMMA). Mazzulli announced his weight as 146 pounds – which is considered good to go in a non-title fight with the 1-pound allowance.
Mazzulli then told Girtz he’d need to take his pants off and weigh in again. Girtz, no doubt thinking he had made weight since Mazzulli announced him at 146, asked why he needed to do that if he already was 146 pounds.
Mazzulli told him his contract weight was 145, and that his weight was 146.25 – making him a quarter-pound over, but also not what Mazzulli originally announced as his weight seconds earlier.
When Girtz said if he took his pants off he’d be naked, he may have sounded agitated. Maybe it was because he was cranky from cutting weight and wanted to eat and drink something. Maybe it was because he was announced as 146, then told he really was 146.25. Maybe it was a combination of both.
Mazzulli told him to wait for the towel, then said, perhaps in response to Girtz being flip with him, “My concern is now all of a sudden you’re acting like a tool …”
After Girtz told Mazzulli to calm down, Mazzulli said, “(It’s) always an issue with someone who has an attitude while they’re cutting weight. It means they’re cutting too much weight, is what it means.”
Girtz, behind a towel, made weight at 145.6 pounds – officially.
Check out the awkward verbal altercation between Mazzulli and Girtz in the video below.
Bellator 250 takes place Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena. The main card airs on CBS Sports Network following prelims on MMA Junkie.
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