UFC 325’s weigh-ins were moving along without much drama when flyweight Aaron Tau stepped forward for his turn. The New Zealander was set to face Namsrai Batbayar in the Road to UFC final, but what should have been a routine check instead drew a second look from officials. Tau was the final fighter to weigh in, arriving roughly 90 minutes into the official window, and his initial reading didn’t quite sit right, drawing attention before it was clear exactly what had gone wrong.

The second reading told a completely different story: 129 pounds, a full seven pounds heavier and four pounds well over the divisional limit. Moments earlier, Tau had registered 122.5 pounds while weighing in behind a modesty box, placing him 3.5 pounds under the non-title flyweight limit. At first glance, it seemed Tau may have attempted a trick similar to Daniel Cormier’s infamous towel-assisted weigh-in, with replays suggesting he may have been resting his elbows on the box to take weight off the scale.

Unlike Cormier’s controversial moment, however, this attempt didn’t pass scrutiny. Aaron Tau’s debacle was so bizarre that even at the desk, Chris Weidman and RJ Clifford were left scratching their heads, openly questioning how such a drastic fluctuation was possible within minutes. They were also the first to bring up similarities with Cormier’s incident.

“Did he pull the DC?” and “DC screwed it up for everyone” were among the comments made. Weidman went as far as calling it “embarrassing,” describing Tau’s return to the scale without the box as a “walk of shame.” Shortly after the failed second weigh-in, the UFC announced during their morning weigh-in show that Tau’s Road to UFC tournament final bout had been scrapped.

While Tau will have to stay on the sidelines, others like Alexander Volkanovski, Diego Lopes, and essentially the entire rest of the card made weight successfully and are moving on to fight night. The canceled bout was scheduled for the early prelims of the Sydney card, costing the event one fight and leaving Batbayar, who made weight, without a clear next step. But the incident raises the question: Was Daniel Cormier caught? 

Cormier’s infamous towel trick

The retired UFC champion pulled the infamous ‘towel trick’ during the official weigh-ins for UFC 210 on April 7, 2017, in Buffalo, New York. He was defending his UFC light heavyweight title against Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson. When he first stepped onto the scale, he weighed in at 206.2 pounds, missing the mark by 1.2 pounds. 

He got off the scale, went off stage, and returned distraught, ready to quit. However, in his second attempt, Cormier made exactly 205 pounds, as handlers held a towel around him for modesty. Video footage from the weigh-in shows ‘DC’ placing his hands on the towel, which looked like he pushed down on them slightly. 

Despite the speculation, the fight went on, and Cormier won via second-round rear-naked choke. The former light heavyweight champion even denied attempting to cheat. Years later, during his UFC Hall of Fame induction, Cormier admitted he used an old wrestling trick to make weight, explaining that the opportunity only presented itself because officials were focused on the scale and not his hands. He later apologized to Johnson for the incident.

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For Tau, the consequences were immediate. With his Road to UFC final canceled, the chance to compete for a multi-fight UFC contract vanished on the scale, leaving his future with the promotion, and any potential further sanctions uncertain. It looks like pulling off the towel trick is not as easy as it seems. Sadly, however, UFC 325 will have less action as a result. What did you make of the incident?