Israel Adesanya Believes Yoel Romero is ‘Gaming the System’ When it Comes to Missing Weight

Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight prospect Israel Adesanya has spoken about the UFC’s decision to change fighter weigh-in times from early morning back to the traditional afternoon weigh-ins.

The push to change weigh-in times has been fuelled by a number of high-profile fighters missing weight this year, including Darren Till and Yoel Romero. UFC President Dana White was adamant something needed to be done to avoid this happening so regularly and is said to be working with the Athletic Commissions on a solution.

The decision to potentially change the weigh-in times has not been received well by the fighters, despite what White initially said and the UFC has decided to keep early morning weigh-ins for now.

Adesanya, who faces off against Brad Tavares this Friday as the headliner in “The Ultimate Fighter 27” Finale, talked to MMAFighting.com about the potential change in weigh-in time and why fighters such as Romero deserve to be criticized when they miss weight:

“I’d rather it be in the mornings because I’m not trying to be grumpy all day. I’d rather just get it done in the morning and then rehydrate properly. You want to spend the least amount of time dehydrated as possible. That being said, if it is getting moved to 4 p.m. I’ll still make the weight perfectly and I’ll be dehydrated for as little time as possible. That’s how I do it, I’m a professional. Look at Romero in his last fight. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t really care in the end because it was such a good fight, but regardless of what happened I didn’t want Romero to win. F*ck that, the guy missed weight and it’s not even the first time he missed weight. And he’s been caught doing other stuff in the past too. I think there’s an element of gaming the system there, it’s almost cheating to be honest.”