Opinion: A Proposal to Solve the Issue of Missing Weight

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

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It was a tale of two weekends for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. While the card headlined by Steve Garcia-David Onama on Nov. 1 couldn’t have gone much worse, the show anchored by Gabriel Bonfim-Randy Brown on Nov. 8 couldn’t have gone much better. With that said, I must nitpick to make my point today.




It will be a time to remember for the Bonfim family. Gabriel turned in the best performance of his career. However, in the case of older brother Ismael Bonfim, it was the worst week of his career. Ismael missed weight, and not by just a little, either. He missed by a good five pounds. That’s a lot. Rather than notify his opponent that he wasn’t going to hit his contracted mark and perhaps allow for a catchweight to be negotiated in the days ahead of weigh-ins, he allowed opponent Chris Padilla to cut down to the 155-pound limit. This also wasn’t the first time Ismael missed weight in the UFC. Given those factors and his poor performance in a loss to Padilla, it wouldn’t be a shock if he winds up being cut by the promotion, even as his younger brother looks to advance toward stardom.

While missing weight didn’t prove to be an advantage for the fighter who blew it in this instance, it has continually been a problem. It has been a rarity when there isn’t at least one fighter on a card to miss weight. In order to compensate the fighter at a disadvantage, the one who made weight tends to receive financial compensation from the fighter in the wrong. Sometimes, I know there has been some sort of negotiation with the UFC that should he lose, the fighter who made weight would not be on the cut list since he was at a competitive disadvantage. Those are reasonable accommodations, but they don’t seem to be too much of a deterrent. Weight misses remain a constant problem.


There has been all sorts of talk about what to do with the eye poke problem of late, but there hasn’t been much said about missing weight. Missing a chunk of a paycheck hasn’t been enough to dissuade fighters, given that there’s still a paycheck coming their way so long as they fight. Even though I understand the deterrent, it’s clearly not a difficult choice for them to make, especially if they believe not cutting the extra weight means they perform better and improve their chances of receiving their win bonus.

What do I propose? Treat missing weight like a PED violation. If you miss weight and choose to still compete, you receive an automatic six-month suspension following the contest for the first violation. For each pound missed, an additional month is added to the suspension.

READ HERE

Opinion: A Proposal to Solve the Issue of Missing Weight

Stiffer penalties, much like those for PED violations, are needed to address the persistent problem of fighters failing to live up to their contractual obligations on the scale, writes Dayne Fox.

www.sherdog.com

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[Kenny Powerth]

I very much enjoyed watching Steve Garcia getting a much deserved main event, but I get the "point" with the eye poke

 

[SuperNerd]

I'm not sure who is supposed to be enforcing this, the UFC or the government, but... I'll gladly be in the minority on this, I think its crazy to adopt stricter punishments before adopting all weight classes.

 

[oski]

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

Gastelum in tears as we speak

 

[JohnMandick]

Or they could actually enforce it and cancel the fight, pay the other fighter their win bonus.

Do that a few times and it'll never happen again. But the UFC doesn't care unless it affects their profit.

 

[Slapjit]

Very good haanji! I support this opinion Sardar Kowboy!

In slap dangal punishment for weight miss is forfeit the coin toss haanji I wish it is strict to add suspension also

 

[Hymen Crusher]

Or they could actually enforce it and cancel the fight, pay the other fighter their win bonus.

Do that a few times and it'll never happen again. But the UFC doesn't care unless it affects their profit.

Easy or pay the fighter who makes weight the offenders win bonus regardless. That would stop it

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

 

[John Scaler]

The only solution is to have weigh-ins 1 hour before the fight.

 

[don't ask]

There has to be better options to eliminate weightcutting. I believe ONE has fighters weigh in frequently so there's no sudden dehydration/rehydration.

 

[Neck&Neck]

If you miss weight you get fined AND have to buy your opponent lunch after the fight

 

[Elvis.]

20% penalty off the top and 10% per pound over the fighter comes in overweight
5 pounds 50% for example

 

[CasualBot]

Simple...

1lb $50,000
2lb $100,000

Title fights...

1lb $100,000
2lb $200,000

That would fix things real quick.

 

[Tito Tapped]

Let's first recognize the real problem.

There isn't any consequence from the UFC when you miss weight. You can still win, get promoted, move up the rankings, earn title fights, get bonuses and benifit all as if you actually made the weight.

And here's maybe the bigger issue. If you're the opponent, you get fucked. The pressure is solely on you to accept your opponents advantage from both the fans and the company. If you turn it down, you get paid nothing, fans are pissed at you for not fighting and the UFC can easily retaliate against you.