Light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier created quite a dramatic sequence on Friday morning by weighing in successfully on his second attempt with just seconds to spare to preserve Saturday’s UFC 210 rematch with Anthony Johnson.

By stripping naked and holding a towel with two hands to cover himself, Cormier shed the 1.2 pounds he was over on his first attempt just over two minutes earlier. But the controversial 11th hour save, which prevented Cormier from losing his title on the scales, had its detractors, including rival Jon Jones.

A native of nearby Rochester, New York, Jones made the trip to Buffalo and spoke to the media after Friday afternoon’s ceremonial weigh in, saying he couldn’t believe what he was witnessing as Cormier appeared to manipulate the scale by holding the towel. 

“I watched the guy, like if you focus on his hands, you can see him looking down and balancing out his weight just right to make 205,” Jones said. “What a clever trick, very dishonest of him. The crazy thing is that it was allowed to happen.” 

Jones, a former champion, defeated Cormier by decision in January 2015 but was stripped of his title three months after fleeing the scene of a hit-and-run accident. Multiple attempts were made to make a rematch but both were foiled by injury and suspension, with Jones out until July after testing positive for two banned substances just days before their UFC 200 bout was called off.

Upon hearing that Jones had called his handling of the weigh-in unprofessional, Cormier responded after the weigh-in. 

“Jon Jones talking about somebody being unprofessional?” Cormier said. “I mean wow, come on.” 

Johnson, who also weighed in under the 205-pound limit with just seconds to spare on Friday morning, had no ill will for Cormier, referencing how difficult the cut to light heavyweight has been for both of them. 

“That has been the story of our life,” Johnson said. “It happened to him when he was wrestling in the Olympics and he had a difficult cut now. It is what it is. Not everybody can fight 205 and a lot of times the people that do fight 205, it’s never an easy cut. If it was 206, it would have been fine. It would have been fine for me too. That extra pound can make or break somebody.”

When asked specifically about Cormier holding the towel and what role it played, Johnson said he “had no idea about that trick,” and teased that he wished he had known about it during his days as a UFC welterweight. 

Cormier, however, was unwilling to admit that the towel played a role at all when pressed by media members.

“That’s your belief, not mine,” Cormier said. “What does doing that do? I don’t understand. It’s not something I’ve done before so I don’t know. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t show my junk.”

Jones wasn’t buying it and took issue with the New York State Athletic Commission’s handling of the entire scenario, which included giving Cormier a second chance to make weight to begin with (thanks to an NYSAC rule for championship fights) and for not investigating the towel incident further.

“I would imagine there has to be some kind of commission or something to go back and see this blatant foul play and address it,” Jones said. “No one has addressed it, he just completely got away with doing one of the dirtiest things I have seen in the sport.”

NYSAC executive Tony Giardina was captured on camera Friday morning stating emphatically that Cormier’s hands weren’t on the towel at all. When told that there is video of him doing so, Giardina stammered. 

“He was holding the towel the second time?” he said. “I didn’t ... I didn’t see it. Either way, he weighed in.”