Weight cutting is a crucial part of mixed martial arts. Fighters are often put in a position where they must shed fifteen, twenty, even thirty-plus pounds prior to a fight. This tradition of weight cutting crossed over from amateur wrestling, where it is a long-standing tradition. Weight cutting has now become a permanent part of the mixed martial arts culture. The practice of weight cutting is generally done to give a fighter an advantage in strength over his or her opponent. Over the last few years we have seen fighters like the now retired Kenny “Kenflo” Florian compete in as many as four separate weight classes. Moves like these are a good way for fighters to gain a fresh start if they have found themselves outmatched by a division’s champion or if they feel that they are not at their strongest against the talent in that division. Here’s the problem. Making weight for a fight when you are trying to drop twenty or more pounds is incredibly difficult to do and without proper medical support can also be seriously dangerous. More and more often we are seeing fighters miss the mark on the day of the weigh-in only to be docked a percentage of their purse, and in many cases they are looking worse for the wear on fight night. The question is, what can fight promotions and athletic commissions do to help make weight cutting safer and how will they go about reducing the number of fighters that are missing the mark?
Two weeks ago at UFC on FOX 12 in San Jose, CA, Matt “The Immortal” Brown showed up to the weigh-ins over the legal weight limit for his fight by 1.5 lbs. This is not uncommon and usually, as is allowed by most fight commissions, the fighter is given an additional hour to make the legal limit. Here is where things get screwy. The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) had a physician on hand to advise fighters if they should or should not try to make the additional cut. This seems like a smart idea, however, most physicians are not going to tell a person who is devoid of fluids and likely needing to rehydrate using an IV bag that they should continue cutting weight. In the case of Matt Brown, the doctor advised Brown to no longer continue cutting the weight. However, Brown was under the impression that the commission doctor told him he wasn’t allowed to continue cutting the weight at all and that he would now be handed a 20% fine by the CSAC. So here we have a case of an athletic commission and a doctor looking out for a fighter but not being clear about the advice they were giving. This is obviously not the message that the CSAC wanted to send and in the end, because of the less than clear explanation, Brown was not fined for his action but he did still miss the contracted weight. This presents another issue. Brown’s opponent, Robbie Lawler, made the weight. Robbie Lawler made the weight on his first try and it was not easy for him either to shed the water that his body was undoubtedly craving. This now becomes an issue of respect.
When a fighter misses weight it is generally regarded as very disrespectful to his or her opponent. This issue can be more than frustrating to a person who might not only be the larger of the two fighters but who may or may not have special dietary needs making a weight cut that much more difficult. The overwhelming emotion in this situation from most fighters is anger. Just two weeks ago at WFA25 in Lincoln City, Oregon, Portland based fighter Ryan Healy was scheduled to face Aaron Hendrick in a lightweight fight. Hendrick was a late replacement for another fighter and when it came time to step on the scale, it was apparent that Hendrick was not going to make the mark. Even though Hendrick was a late replacement, this is still an instance where the fighter should have made the contracted weight. Prior to accepting the matchup, Hendrick was well aware of the weight class and if he didn’t intend to make weight he could have easily asked for the fight to be scheduled at a catch weight. This would have been a simple solution for Hendrick and just another way that he could have been healthier, while allowing his opponent some leeway while finishing training camp. Healy looked at this act as complete disrespect and made it clear that he was very disappointed that Hendrick didn’t even bother to try making the weight on his second attempt. With fighters often getting injured and replacements finding their way to cards so regularly, maybe creating mandatory catch weights for fights that require a late replacement would be a good way to prevent this type of situation. I believe it is time for athletic commissions to address these types of problems. While my suggestion might address the late replacement it’s far from the only problem face fight promotions and athletic commissions.
One last issue that MMA faces with weight cutting and fighters missing weight is the sometimes-overlooked serial weight missers. From time to time we run into one of these guys in the world of MMA. Take for example current UFC 205 lb contender Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. There was a time not so long ago that Johnson was being talked about as a future UFC champion … at 170 lbs! Johnson was cutting weight from what some say was as high as 220 lbs and still making the mark at 170. As absurd as it sounds, Johnson was putting his body through quite a bit and making the weight regularly. But then, as quickly as he came up the ranks, Johnson began to find the weight harder and harder to make. Johnson moved up a weight class in the UFC only to badly miss weight for a fight against Vitor Belfort. Johnson would eventually begin fighting at heavyweight until he found a healthy balance for himself and made a home at light heavyweight after seven years of struggling to make the weight cut. Much like Johnson, flyweight contender John Lineker has missed weight in several UFC matchups. Lineker has only seven UFC fights and three times he has failed to make the 125 lb weight limit. Lineker is regarded as a top talent in the division and because of this, the UFC has seemingly showed him more lenience. What can be done to stop future fighters from making these same mistakes? There is no program in place from any athletic commission to discourage this type of behavior and in the case of Lineker the UFC has not shown much in the way of discipline. One idea that be effective is to have a system in place where the fine for missing weight has an escalating clause if you miss weight in consecutive bouts or more than twice in a year. With fighter pay being such an issue already it seems that the threat of losing even more money might prove to be incentive enough to keep fighters from attempting to perform outside of a comfortable weight class.
Professional athletes are always going to be looking to gain a competitive advantage. Be it unsafe, unhealthy, or illegal, the modern day athlete is often willing to risk just about anything to earn a leg up on their competition. In regard to weight cutting it is about time that major fight promotions and athletic commissions come together to find ways to make things safer and more effective for MMA fighters. If you have ideas of your own I urge you to write to your state’s athletic commission and express to them just how important it is to protect our athletes and keep our sport safe and fair.
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