The Reason For Weight Cutting's Existence In 2013

campbecc said:
I think day of weigh ins would be way worse; people would be fighting while dehydrated
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yeah fighting like shit or having fights cancelled. thats not a solution. its a sport/business. having fights cancelled would be a disaster for the company, fighters, and fans

no chance
 
I forgot where exactly it took place and what sport (boxing, wrestling, MMA) but there was a decent attempt at stopping weight cutting.

1. Fighters had a walk around weigh-in followed by a hydration test. They then had to stay within 15 pounds of that weight during their entire training camp.

2. Fighters were then weighed the day of the match. They must pass the weight AND hydration test. No cutting weight the day of the fight or you would fail.

To me this is pretty much perfect and keeps guys fighting at close to their walk around weights. The only downside is what do you do if the fighter doesn't make weight? With UFC being in the PPV business, you can't just cancel fights after people have ordered the show. Maybe a severe purse reduction?
 
Michael13 said:
I just think there should be a limit on how much weight you can cut. 15 pounds maybe.
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you wouldn't be able to police if a fighter did otherwise and really then it would have to set different pounds for each division. A heavyweight cutting 15 is easier than a bantamweight cutting 15.

I agree that cutting weight is bad for your health and I would never do it and didn't do it for the few grappling tournaments I participated in. However, this has been an accepted practice for fighters from all backgrounds and countries for years. They wouldn't do it if it didn't help them win the fight because they are bigger than they guy who doesn't cut weight.
 
1. Many fighters would still dehydrate themselves, leading to an even greater risk of injury.

2. You'd risk having fights cancelled within, what, an hour of when the fight is supposed to go on if someone misses weight. Imagine tuning into a $60 PPV to learn the main event is off because the challenger missed weight.

3. In the alternative, to avoid that scenario, fighters could face additional pressure to accept the fight with someone who misses weight by a significant amount.

4. The UFC uses the weighins as a marketing tool and a big even that is part of the fight weekend. The UFC won't want to miss out on the money that comes with it, FS2 or whatever won't want to miss out on the weighin show and related ads, and the venues won't want to miss out on extra money through concessions and the UFC renting out the arena for an extra night.
 
I think the system as it is now is the most practical solution.

the only way I can think of to stop weight cutting would be to have random weighing of fighters within the month before the fight; I'm not saying they should do it but that would work.
 
campbecc said:
I think day of weigh ins would be way worse; people would be fighting while dehydrated
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Degen Gambler said:
Guys will go into the ring dehydrated.
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not if they are done a couple of hours before the fight.

The reason the UFC would not like it is the risk of cancelled fights at the last minute if fighters fail to make weight. But few fighters would bother cutting if they did not have sufficient time to regain and use the weight.

it is not the cutting they see as an advantage but rather the weight and size regain.
 
RemoWilliams1a said:
not if they are done a couple of hours before the fight.

The reason the UFC would not like it is the risk of cancelled fights at the last minute if fighters fail to make weight. But few fighters would bother cutting if they did not have sufficient time to regain and use the weight.

it is not the cutting they see as an advantage but rather the weight and size regain.
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Even if you make it a couple hours before the fight, fighters will still cut weight. Shit, high school wrestlers cut weight for events and weigh in a couple hours before a meet sometimes.
 
John Creed said:
Stupid thread. Weight cutting is a part of the sport, there isn't even any major incentive to eliminate it. Better in fight cardio? 99.99% of the heavies don't cut weight and yet have the WORST cardio while the majority of the guys in the lowest weight classes have by far the best cardio even though they pretty much all cut weight.

You do realize that same day weight-ins just means more cards ruined/cancelled when a big star shows up and can't make weight? You DO realize that people will still cut weight leading to worse quality fights, etc? Go on a boxing forum and post this crap, stop acting like MMA is the first combat sport in existence with weight classes and the entire concept of weigh-ins a day before the fight is new to you. Why are MMA fans so damn retarded?

Please stop with the stupid whining about weight cutting. It's like all of you idiots whining about fighter pay. Just watch the damn fights and enjoy it, all of the rest of that crap is just you being little girls and wanting to gossip and turn everything into a soap opera.
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M'eh. You post is not a smart rebut of the OP.

- The reason HW's have bad cardio compared to the lighter weights is due largely to the relative size of the hearts and the amount of blood needed to pump around a bigger body and the general conditioning.

- cutting weight and deep weight cuts and rapid rehydration absolutely can and do effect next day cardio and stamina

- he is absolutely right that fighters spending time focusing on weight cutting (which adds nothing to the sport) takes away from positive training that would add to the sport

- Weight cutting has almost become a zero sum game. The advantage weight cutters used to get in particular US wrestlers who had the most experience cutting, in bringing a size advantage into the cage/ring has almost become zero as other disciplines and nationalities felt he need to adopt the practice. We now see Asian fighters, for instance amongst the biggest in divisions when not too long ago very few cut weight.

It would benefit all MMA fans if all fighters would not cut, and I guarantee you the fighters would like it way better too as they would be mostly fighting the same guys but just a weight class up, for the most part. But right now most fighters cannot afford not to be the only one not cutting so they are all trapped into doing it.
 
TFanatic said:
Even if you make it a couple hours before the fight, fighters will still cut weight. Shit, high school wrestlers cut weight for events and weigh in a couple hours before a meet sometimes.
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I am at a loss on this.

is there a belief that 'cutting weight gives an advantage' or is it the 'subsequent weight regain and being bigger then your opponent'?

I am 100% confident that no one thinks 'cutting weight' is the advantage. It is the weight regain and subsequent size advantage that guys are looking for.

So just make the weigh in time close enough to the fight such that they cannot regain enough weight to make it worth it.

It is not about getting a bunch of water into your belly for weight regain. IT is about the time needed for it to rehydrate the cell that have been stripped of their moisture and that takes time.
 
Weigh ins are like a mini-event in itself. It helps hype and sell more tickets or get more viewers. Bookies/Punters love it. Marketing loves it. It's all part of the money making exercise.

Logically, there's no reason to have day-before weigh ins, that effectively mandate weight cutting for fighters (considering they could be on the same day/before the fight). But it is what it is and they aren't going anywhere.

And NO pro coach in the world is going to have their fighter dehydrate themselves to make weight if the fight is on the same day. The argument is ridiculous. Same day weigh ins could easily happen, it would be an adjustment, but to say that fighters would start passing out/dying in the cage because they would still cut all this weight is ludicrous. People honestly think pro fighters would have their performance crippled by cutting lots of weight knowing they had to weigh in just before fighting...?
 
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RemoWilliams1a said:
I am at a loss on this.

is there a belief that 'cutting weight gives an advantage' or is it the 'subsequent regain and being bigger then your opponent'?

I am 100% confident that no one thinks 'cutting weight' is the advantage. It is the weight regain and subsequent size advantage that guys are looking for.

So just make the weigh in time close enough to the fight such that they cannot regain enough weight to make it worth it.

It is not about getting a bunch of water into your belly for weight regain. IT is about the time needed for it to rehydrate the cell that have been stripped of their moisture and that takes time.
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Because if I weigh 114 pounds and cut weight to 103, I'm either wrestling guys my size who cut or guys who weigh less that don't cut and are smaller.

If i wrestle at 112, then I'm wrestling guys that are coming down from 125-130 or guys my own size who don't cut.

That weight makes a real difference on the mat and is very much worth it to do it.
 
Day of weighin would lead to day of cutting leading to serious harm and death.

The only solution would be a week long weighin, where fighters were weighed every day for a week.
 
The only time I see these "ban weight cutting" threads is when someone gets mad when their favorite fighter loses to a "bigger" fighter.

You don't hear fighters complain about an opponent that cuts a lot.

People act like weight cutting is some dirty trick that is all advantage to the fighter who cuts the most. Cutting weight is a skill, if you mismanage it you come in at a disadvantage even if you do make the weight.
 
TFanatic said:
Because if I weigh 114 pounds and cut weight to 103, I'm either wrestling guys my size who cut or guys who weigh less that don't cut and are smaller.

If i wrestle at 112, then I'm wrestling guys that are coming down from 125-130 or guys my own size who don't cut.

That weight makes a real difference on the mat and is very much worth it to do it.
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wait what?

If I weight 210 today in shape and fight some guy who cuts down from 220 to 210 via a water cut and we fight and both weight 210, you are saying the guy who cut from 220 has an advantage because he was bigger BEFORE THE CUT???

I mean, I might be taller, have a bigger frame and reach and we weigh the exact same in cage but you are saying because he cut to get 210 and I did not, he is bigger??
 
Thrawn33 said:
The only time I see these "ban weight cutting" threads is when someone gets mad when their favorite fighter loses to a "bigger" fighter.

You don't hear fighters complain about an opponent that cuts a lot.

People act like weight cutting is some dirty trick that is all advantage to the fighter who cuts the most. Cutting weight is a skill, if you mismanage it you come in at a disadvantage even if you do make the weight.
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I see and hear fighters complain about weight cutting all the time.

And while it is not a dirty trick, it is a practice that diminishes every aspect of the sport and if everyone is doing it, it does so with very little gained.

Todays weigh cutting is science. Their is almost no individualized fighter skill involved. Certain fighters may have a greater natural capacity to cut and some may be more practiced at it, but the top guys all pretty much do the same things as there are few secrets left in 'cut' land.
 
J10Abu said:
Even with the amount of evidence that supports the argument of abolishing weight cuts
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What evidence?

I see no evidence that would outweight the fact that brain damage is 4 times more likely when suffering head trauma while dehydrated.

I too was against it, then I read into it. Now I accept it as the best option.
 
"Although the researchers acknowledge that their study was too small to be definitive, they conclude that dehydration causes changes in the volume of intra-cranial compartments that may put sportsmen and women at increased risk of brain damage from contusion injury (bruising) and internal haemorrhage after head injuries."

http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/dehydration-brain-damage.htm
 
besides heavies though, doesn't everyone cut to the same weight anyway? I imagine most guys in X weight class would walk around at roughly the same weight, so weight cutting essentially serves what purpose? fighting a man that would usually weigh the same as you anyway, at a lighter weight.

This may be a stupid idea, but if the UFC took a mean average of the weight of all current fighters in X weight class, they could scope the margin by which to increase the weight classes, if the UFC aimed to stop weight cutting. for example, if the average 185er walks around at at 195-205 then make the MW class 195.

Again,however, this may just open the door for more heavy guys to still cut weight in order to make lower weight classes.

All in all, it's not that much of an issue at the moment so it doesn't really need change.
 
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