Fight Juicier

I'm all for safety, and even sometimes for sanity; even safety and sanity in sport.

Mma is a dangerous sport, and kinda crazy. Of course there is the obvious, but the real problem is hidden.

A fighter recently died of a stroke at the weigh in for a fight in Brazil. This was a direct result of dehydration caused by cutting weight.

Fighters in combat sports do this all the time. They are divided into different weight divisions, and consider it an advantage to fight smaller competitors. The UFC welterweight champion Georges St Pierre theoretically weighs 170 pounds, but his everyday weight is over 20 pounds heavier.

The problem is the ritual called the weigh-in. The two competitors meet 24 hours before their fight and are put on the scale by fight or government officials. They only have to make the weight limit at precisely that time. They are also given a one pound leeway over the limit anyhow.

The way they get around the weigh in limitation is that they dehydrate themselves to varying degrees. Let's say a fighter is 20 pounds over their weight limit. They have to shed this by temporarily losing 9 liters of water. This is not a normal behavior. Your body isn't built to be short 9 liters of fluid. They do this in the 24 hours prior to the weigh in.

Simply not drinking won't do it. They also have to sweat it out using heat and exercise.

That's what killed the fighter I mentioned before who died in Brazil. Three college wrestlers in the USA died in 1997 cutting weight. UFC top contender Daniel Cormier gave himself kidney failure a few months ago cutting weight.

There seems to be a problem.

Problems need solutions, especially if they are easy.

American college wrestling moved their weigh ins to right before the matches. A fighter could still dehydrate themselves, but they would then have to compete in that state. It takes time for a human body to recover from that. College wrestlers also have to weigh in throughout the season a couple of times a week. If they want to fight lighter, they actually have to be lighter.

So why doesn't mma do this? Simple; it could cost big money. What would happen if a championship super fight competitor failed to make weight? The business interests will never allow this to happen.

So why not insist mma fighters weigh in periodically? There are just too many fighters, living and training in too many places, to police effectively.

What I think needs to happen is that the UFC needs to lead by example. They have to ignore the problem in the rest of the mma world, and fix it it within their own organization.

Step 1: the 250-300 fighters under UFC contract should have regularly scheduled weigh-ins. If their weight drifts up more than 5% above the division's weight limit, they automatically become registered in the next heavier division. They would have to make a certain number of weigh ins within a lower division's limit to move down a category. No big deal if they accidentally slip above their allowed weight, if they can get back down again after a couple of months maintaining the level.

Step 2: UFC fighters with upcoming fights have to start making their division's exact weight limit and having more frequent scheduled weigh ins. No more 5% leeway. There should be penalties for failure to make weight.

Step 3: The official weigh in ritual happens 24 hours before the fight, and a final time one hour before the match.

No more dehydration. No more related dangers. There would also be an added benefit in fighters competing against people actually the same size.