Jeff Creighton put on a winning performance on The Ultimate Fighter 33, one made all the more memorable by a unique pre-fight negotiation.
His opponent, Andreeas Binder, part of coach Chael Sonnen’s team, failed to make weight for their quarterfinal bout, coming in at 176 pounds, five pounds over the limit even with a one-pound allowance for a non-title contest. This put Binder, Sonnen, and the show in a dilemma: What would happen to that week’s fight?
Sonnen called opposing coach Daniel Cormier’s team with an offer to pay Creighton $1,000 per pound over to make the fight happen. Cormier and Creighton countered with $2,500 per pound, Sonnen agreed, and the bout proceeded as scheduled.
From what viewers saw, Creighton came off as a cold, calculated negotiator, but the fighter told MMA Fighting it didn’t exactly play it out like that.
“The way they shot it made it seem like I had the number in my head, like I made the call,” Creighton said, “Really, that’s not how it went. When I got the call and we’re sitting there and they offered $1,000 [per pound], I put the phone down to my leg so that Chael couldn’t hear and I was looking up at everybody and [Cormier’s boxing coach Rosendo Sanchez] was the first one to speak up. He’s like, ‘F*ck that. Ask for $2,500 a pound because Chael works for ESPN now. He can afford it.’
“So I just went out on a limb on what he said and they took it hook, line, and sinker, so I was like, ‘This is great.’ I want to give Rosendo the credit, because in the episode they made it seem like I had that number right on top of my head and I was the ultimate negotiator, which, I’m a pretty good negotiator but I don’t know if I would be that good. So I’m glad Rosendo spoke up and said something.”
Fighters have missed weight on TUF before and still gone on to compete, but Binder’s egregious miss and the ensuing penalty is unheard of for the long-running reality TV show program that debuted premiered in 2005 (TUF 33 marks the show’s 20th anniversary).
As far as protocol went, Creighton—who confirmed the $12,500 came out of Sonnen’s own pocket—said the commission was only concerned with Binder being at a reasonable weight on fight day (anything more than 10 pounds and the bout would likely have been called off). When Creighton spoke to UFC CEO Dana White, he received nothing but praise from his potential boss.
“I think Dana knew this was a good idea,” Creighton said. “The show’s never seen anything like this. So he was, like, thumbs up, let’s make it happen.”
From there, it was just a matter of Creighton taking care of business in the cage. After a rough first round in which Binder caught Creighton with several hard punches, Creighton and his corner were confident that Binder’s weight-cutting struggles would catch up to him in Round 2. Sure enough, Creighton’s constant pressure overwhelmed Binder and he ended up pummeling and bloodying Binder for the majority of that round. Judges awarded Creighton a 10-8, giving him the win in the two-round contest.
With the win, the 29-year-old Creighton (11-2-1) is one step closer to fulfilling his dream of fighting in the UFC. The path has been anything but linear as Creighton’s management had essentially told him to be on standby for a UFC opportunity prior to signing up for TUF.
“There was no deal that was really presented, it was kind of like, ‘Hey, you might get on Contender [Series] or it might be short notice, so you just need to stay ready,’” Creighton said. “That’s all I was told for two years. So I just trained non-stop, kept doing what I was doing, and the opportunity never really came. So I was definitely frustrated with where I was at because I’m getting older. I’ve got a wife. We wanted to have kids and be in a house, so I just got fed up with the process.”
“[My manager] reached out and was like, ‘Hey, they’re doing 170 for The Ultimate Fighter and would you be interested and I was like, ‘Hell yeah, I’d be interested,’” he continued. “It was just the opportunity you don’t really see coming.”
Creighton was Team Cormier’s third welterweight pick and the fifth welterweight pick overall. He takes responsibility for his late selection, admitting he didn’t perform at his best in the pre-selection workouts. But once he was picked, Creighton was fully confident he could win the show.
What he didn’t expect was the roller-coaster of emotions that would accompany his first fight in the TUF house.
“It was super exciting,” Creighton said of the pre-fight negotiation. “To live it was just wild. Obviously, you have cutting-weight brain, you’re going through all these things, there’s all these factors going through your head on what decision to make and I think we made the right one. It couldn’t have gone any better than that.”
