Mark Delarosa explains no-show at Legacy FC 61

By Tony Trammell

Issues with weigh-in procedure prompted undefeated fighter to no-show main event fight

DALLAS, TX – On Friday night October 14^th undefeated local fighter Mark Delarosa was scheduled to have a five-round title shot against defending champion Steven Peterson at the Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas. The bout was scheduled to be the main event of Legacy Fighting Championship 61. With girlfriend Montana Stewart also on the card (facing Mackenzie Dern), this was supposed to be a very big night. It wouldn’t be a far-stretch to say that this could have been the most pivotal moment of Delarosa’s fighting career.

Except it never happened.

Following a weigh-in process where champion Peterson missed on his first attempt and subsequently weighed in at the championship limit within the 90 minute period allotted by the TDLR, Delarosa decided there would be no fight. How the whole thing went down was not acceptable to him.

Here’s the take from Mark Delarosa in the aftermatch of Legacy FC 61:

My opponent weighed in 3 lbs. over on the first go. He was then allowed (which was approved) extra time to try and lose the weight. About 20 minutes later he came back down to re-weigh for the second time. He steps on stage to the scale and it reads 137.5 still 2.5 over. Then for some unknown reason his coach causes a massive scene and tries to attack my manager who was sitting in the same place he was prior to them entering for the re-weigh minding his own business. His coach had to be physically restrained and removed from the official weigh-in room while still barking threats. Then only 2-3 minutes after the second weigh-in attempt, I was told that Peterson re-weighed for a THIRD time. This THIRD attempt was not on stage like the other 19 fighters and the scale was moved outside of the room. I was not alerted that this was happening and nobody from my team was alerted of this.

The THIRD attempt and SPECIAL weigh-in location are the elements that I was very shocked and frustrated with. We were told ahead of time that he wasn’t going to make weight on the first attempt but he would take the extra time and try…so his team knew things weren’t looking good. When a fighter is already dry and sucked out it is incredibly hard to cut 3 more in 20-30 min. I am not saying it is impossible but either way, we were prepared for him to miss weight and still fight, but the circumstances of how it all went down just didn’t seem right. Everything felt incredibly shady.

The simple ‘no show’ comments that were made on TV and Peterson making it sound like he just walked up and clearly made weight on the second attempt and, with no problem, are FALSE. I am shocked that Michael Schiavello would dig the knife in deeper into my “pulled heart muscle” when he was not in the official weigh in room for the first and second attempt. He only saw the 3rd attempt in the lobby when he walked over to find out what all the screaming was. Again the full story needs to be told.  This was already a very tough decision for me and Legacy staff was alerted of the decision. All I can do now is learn from this experience and move forward.  Big thanks to everyone who has stood by me in this difficult time.  I still have my friends, family health and happiness so for that I am so very thankful. – Mark

So there you have it. “Shady” circumstances prompted the decision not to fight. Very unfortunate all-around for all parties involved – especially Mark Delarosa if comments from AXS TV commentators Michael Schiavello and Pat Militech hold true since according to them, Mark will never fight on their network or in the UFC after this.

Update: Some additional insight from Legacy FC matchmaker Collin Cantrell:

So what does the community think about all this? Does the punishment fit the crime or was Delarosa just in his decision to not fight?