This is BS. Just allow the damn IVs. Fighters have been cutting weight for over a decade in all combat sports. In boxing, its pretty much legal unless otherwise stated in the bout agreement. Let MMA fighters have the same choice.
If you die while weightcutting, its your own fault. Part of fighting at a certain weight is preparing to fight at that weight. If you die trying to cut an insane amount of weight, its your own fault. You always have the choice to take a 20% purse forfeiture for not preparing for the fight properly, which is what i fighter should do if a weightcut can potentially put their life at risk. If you don't prepare properly you shouldn't be getting the money anyway. This is just an overreaction to a fighter dying and bodes terribly for the future of rulemaking in mma. What is going to happen the first time a fighter dies from a headkick?
This is going to lead to a serious drug problem in mma as fighters are going to find chemicals to put them into their weightclass since they are going to try to determine how hydrated you are.
Some fighters are good at weightcutting, some aren't. Its a skill and a balancing act that has become a part of the sport. Skill wins fights, not weightcuts. No commission or promotion has ever told a fighter "you must cut weight." If a fighter doesn't like doing it, he doesn't have to. He is still allowed to get in the cage and compete at his natural weight if he so chooses.
This is going to make fighters not want to fight in california. Who in their right mind is going to want to lose 10+ lbs of muscle for a fight in cali only to have to put that muscle back on for a fight in vegas 4 months later. Its a stupid rule that is only going to hurt the mma scene in california. This is why there needs to be federal sanctioning body that takes input and suggestions of the fighters on issues like this. They know the rigors and dangers of the sport better than any athletic commission beaurocrat.
Its like the damn IV ban all over again. Let the fighters use IVs. You are doing more harm to the athletes than good by banning them. Fighters with less fluid surrounding their brains will be way more prone to concussions. But the commissions and promotions come up with these stupid new rules all the time without talking to the fighters about what's best for their sport.
Fighters don't have to cut weight at all. It is a sacrifice for an advantage. Those willing to make the sacrifice get the advantage. Those who can't don't. But that should be for a fighter to decide, not a sanctioning body.
