Ex-UFC fighter ‘Smilin’ Sam Alvey used the infamous ‘towel trick’ while weighing in for his Karate Combat debut on Saturday night.
Alvey was released from the UFC in August 2022 after eight years with the promotion. ‘Smilin’ exited the UFC winless in his last nine bouts and going 10-13-1 overall inside the Octagon. Since then, Alvey has gotten back into the win column with a third-round TKO against Cameron Graham under the B2 Fight Series label.
Last month, it was revealed that Alvey had signed with Karate Combat and is scheduled to make his debut at KC41 in La Romana, Dominican Republic against Brazil’s Adam Rosa. Stepping on the scale ahead of his promotional debut, Alvey had to strip down in order to make the light heavyweight limit. However, fans were quick to point out that ‘Smilin’ appeared to utilize the ol’ ‘towel trick’ to get the scale where he needed it to be.
In the video, which you can see below, Alvey appears to hop on and then quickly hop off once the scale gives him a satisfactory result.
Sam Alvey used the towel trick to make weight for Karate Combat pic.twitter.com/9km5NuHrBk
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) September 15, 2023
For those unfamiliar, the ‘towel trick’ is a popular move in wrestling where athletes will grab the towel with both hands, putting some of their body weight on the towel in order to manipulate the scale. This tactic was infamously used by former UFC two-division champion Daniel Cormier ahead of his UFC 210 fight with the late Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson. Years later, during his UFC Hall of Fame induction, ‘DC’ finally admitted to using the towel in order to make the 205-pound limit.
With 53 fights to his credit and more than 15 years as a professional fighter, it’s safe to assume that Sam Alvey knows all the tricks. And while it may have been pretty obvious to some, he executed it the ‘towel trick’ to perfection.
You can catch Alvey’s Karate Combat debut on September 16 via the promotion’s YouTube channel starting at 6:00 p.m. EST.
You can watch the full KC41 weigh-ins below:
