How much weight is cut on average? How much water weight do fighters cut?

[thetopdog555]

I went out of town to corner my friend for a fight last Saturday. On Friday afternoon they told me one of the middleweights dropped out and they wanted to see if I could fill in at the last minute. I was 218lbs when I stepped on the scale and didn't even think they'd sanction the fight, but by the time my opponent weighed in he had rehydrated to 207lbs and it ended up being a heavyweight fight <45>. So the guy was going to weigh-in at 185lbs, got told to stop cutting and gained back 22lbs in a few hours which is crazy. And this was just an amateur fight and the guy I fought wasn't even a wrestler

 

[avenue94]

Column names are confusing. "DayBeforeWeight" would be the official weigh and "DayOfWeigh" the in-cage weight?

Yes. Although some of those numbers imply fighters are weighed at different times day of the fight and might not be done rehydration. MM and Cejudo being the confusing numbers that imply that

 

[avenue94]

I assumed NSAC would uphold another commission's decision not to license a fighter.

I think 1st offence is a warning and educational support, with monitored periodic weight loss for next bout. 2nd offence they "recommend" you move up.

I assumed NSAC would uphold another commission's decision not to license a fighter.

I think 1st offence is a warning and educational support, with monitored periodic weight loss for next bout. 2nd offence they "recommend" you move up.

It depends, they usually uphold PED suspensions by leaning on the promotion, not the fighter.

But bottom line, commissions don't really give a shit about fighter safety and they are more or less owned by promotions (UFC in this case). So not surprising they are ignoring weight cutting issues.

 

[Gamer2k4]

My goodness, Aspen Ladd is ridiculous lol.

Maybe someone's already posted a picture/video of it, but if that's the event I think it is, she looked BAD on the scale. Like shaking, about to fall over, get this woman in the ER, bad.

 

[JonJonesNeedle]

Maybe someone's already posted a picture/video of it, but if that's the event I think it is, she looked BAD on the scale. Like shaking, about to fall over, get this woman in the ER, bad.

I remember that weigh in, it was the GDR fight I believe. Ladd lost in like 10 seconds lol

 

[ThunderL1ps]

Anderson Silva is the GOAT at weight cutting.

 

[Oceanmachine]

California reweighs fighters the day of the fight. This gives a fairly accurate picture of how much water weight fighters cut. On top of that, many fighters lose between 5 to 15 pounds during their fight camp before starting their water cut.

So I am reading California athletic commission passed a really good law rule that I am not sure UFC follows

A fight is cancelled if a fighter gains more than 15% of their weight back after a day.

This is a step in right direction to ending weight cutting and implementing same day weigh ins, day before weigh ins, and hydration testing.

Walking around weight is 100% meaningless when it comes to actual fight weight though.

If anything it harms you the higher away it is from fight weight. Bisping talked about this and if your walking weight when out of camp is a lot higher it is alwaya fat and it isnt healrht an

 

[Sticko]

The point of my thread is fight night weight. Water weight cut

Read again

Point is Khabib doesn't weigh 190 in the cage on fight night, nor does he weigh 190 when he starts cutting water weight.
If he weighs 190 at all, it's when he's walking around out of camp. Or now, since he's retired.

 

[Sticko]

California implemented that policy in 2017. You can google UFC and Bellator events held in California since then. For example, google images for "CSAC UFC 241 weight".

Lol why does DC gain 10.5 lbs after weigh-ins? He doesn't need to cut weight.

 

[Oceanmachine]

California reweighs fighters the day of the fight. This gives a fairly accurate picture of how much water weight fighters cut. On top of that, many fighters lose between 5 to 15 pounds during their fight camp before starting their water cut.

some athletic commissions release fight night weights for fighters, a few events are gathered right here.

this isn't my document, no clue about the credit but i found it here.

so, yeah. 35lbs is complete and utter bollocks. this isn't even perfectly representative of the actual cut, since people often consume more water and food when recovering than they cut in the final 3 days before the weigh-ins.

I would love to find a database from Athletic Commission with every California MMA bout and see the fighters weights

 

[Oceanmachine]

Point is Khabib doesn't weigh 190 in the cage on fight night, nor does he weigh 190 when he starts cutting water weight.
If he weighs 190 at all, it's when he's walking around out of camp. Or now, since he's retired.

that is what I said

Khabib was not 190lbs in the cage on fight night though. Out of shape out of camp he balloned up to that though sure

 

[Oceanmachine]

Lol why does DC gain 10.5 lbs after weigh-ins? He doesn't need to cut weight.

I guess he wants to look leaner at weigh ins? I legit dont get it. a 3lb or 5lb flucutation if not cutting weight could make sense with food and water intake. A big guy can easily eat a few lbs of food, I am not over 200lbs and have eaten a pound of chicken easily in a meal. But id imagine DC wouldnt want to go into a fight on a full stomach? So I guess this 2nd weigh in occurred hours before the fight and he was riding a fully belly. Idk it is odd

 

[TrueFightFan]

@Miokink026 is calling me an idiot for saying no one is cutting 35lbs or over 50lbs of water weight. Especially with IV bans

@Miokink026 says average LW and FW and people are cutting 35lbs of weight or more, and that some HW are 300lbs or over 300lbs (cutting 35lbs or 40lbs or more!)



Can we get some real evidence some science as to what is feasible to cut? And what people actually weigh in the cage in fight night.

no featherweight cuts 35lbs, that's absurd. a heavyweight, maybe. but there aren't many HWs above the 265 limit.

a 15lbs cut is pretty standard and can be done by more or less anyone, though it is far more difficult at the lower weights. i guess the more extreme cutters at the lowest classes still do it.

what people don't realize is that after a certain point, every next pound gets exponentially more difficult to lose. cutting 20lbs isn't 30% more difficult than cutting 15lbs. it's a fucking nightmare.

not to mention 90% of sherdog thinks walk around weight is fight night weight, so when they hear khabib is 200lbs when he's out of camp, they assume he cuts 45lbs. they are retarded.

They cut just enough to make them fucking p#ssies!

 

[Oceanmachine]

They cut just enough to make them fucking p#ssies!

I am noticing the lower guys are cutting the most in some cases.


HW
LHW
LW

cutting the least

LOL at Costa cutting so much

 

[Jarvan]

The point of my thread is fight night weight. Water weight cut

Read again

Can we get some real evidence some science as to what is feasible to cut?

I answered the first part

 

[Coconutwater]

no featherweight cuts 35lbs, that's absurd. a heavyweight, maybe. but there aren't many HWs above the 265 limit.

a 15lbs cut is pretty standard and can be done by more or less anyone, though it is far more difficult at the lower weights. i guess the more extreme cutters at the lowest classes still do it.

what people don't realize is that after a certain point, every next pound gets exponentially more difficult to lose. cutting 20lbs isn't 30% more difficult than cutting 15lbs. it's a fucking nightmare.

not to mention 90% of sherdog thinks walk around weight is fight night weight, so when they hear khabib is 200lbs when he's out of camp, they assume he cuts 45lbs. they are retarded.

Exactly.

Even the most unhealthy person can easily cut 13 pounds of water weight without trying. It’s once you get past say… 15lbs or 20lbs that stuff gets complicated.

 

[Paolo Delutis]

I think people get confused with terms...


Weight Cutting means

how much your losing the week of the fight to make weight...

Walking around weight- Guys or Girls weights with no fight scheduled and more relaxed training/diet

Fight Camp weight and Weight loss- The weight at the start of camp and were they want to be at the end of camp in preparation for the final water weight cut during fight week which is achieved by increasing training 10 fold and super dialed in diets for the 8 week plus training camps...this is why you hear guys say things like this was the best camp ever or im.right where i should be the weight cut will be easy during fight week...its because they hit there targets the coaches set for pre weight cut numbers...


In cage weight - The weight a fighter regains after cutting, could be under the same or over pre water cut weight aka End of CAMP weight

For example ..155lbs pound fighter starts camp at 190lbs( walk around weight)...throughout camp he loses fat and slims down while building muscles coming down to 168lbs to 172lbs( fight camp weight loss pre weight cut)....this fighter will then cut 18 to 13 lbs of water ( weight cutting) to make weight come fight week...and rehydrate and eat more post weigh in to fill back the weight cut...getting to or close to or even past the pre weight cut weight this is( in cage weight) so 155lbs at the official weigh in but 24hrs later hes somewhere in the 165 lbs to 175lbs range


I hope this helps...

So a guy like Brock lesnar probably starts camp at 300lbs and finishes camp at 280 285lbs and cuts 20 lbs to make 265lbs..


Thus a 300 pound guy can fight at HW..


*personal note*
I dont believe massive weight cuts are actually effective in MMA , i think it came from singular style martial arts like wrestling/boxing and got carried over in tradition but because MMA is so physically tasking and has so many pieces to it , i think fighters , including myself( currently floating between LW and WW) would benefit from more time working on skills in the gym and less stress on there bodies going into important fights if they just cut less and spent less time having there camps be about lossing or making weight...if the only reason your relying on beating your opponent is because your bigger come fight night i believe your making a big mistake, i would never cut more then 10 pounds or have any fighter id train cut more then 10 pounds for an MMA fight and HWs shouldnt be cutting at all...235lbs to 245lbs is historically proven to be the best size to be a champion at HW ...bigger isnt always better

 

[Paolo Delutis]

Lol why does DC gain 10.5 lbs after weigh-ins? He doesn't need to cut weight.

Popeyes bro....popeyes...

 

[avenue94]

Can we get some real evidence some science as to what is feasible to cut?

I answered the first part

10 to 15 percent of body weight is the normal range. A couple can go over 15, but the guys or couple gals cutting 20 percent are outliers and tend to be from bigger divisions since they aren't going to be as lean (cutting water is heavily related to muscle mass, more muscle, you can hold more water for a cut).

 

[TrueFightFan]

I am noticing the lower guys are cutting the most in some cases.


HW
LHW
LW

cutting the least

LOL at Costa cutting so much

Insane....
- "I'm the 145lb champ of the world!"

- "but you weigh 170lbs..."

- "uhh...I'm the 145lb champ of the world!"

- "P#ssy..."