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UFC 177: Dillashaw vs. Soto (8/30/2014) - Sacramento, CA (Sleep Train Arena)


Elsalvajeloco

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This conversation probably has more posts than recent missed weight cuts.  It is a pretty minor problem that is really only part of the discussion based on one guy who clearly doesn't give a fuck and another guy from a camp that seems to have no idea how to properly cut weight(A fighter from Nova Unao actually died last year).  The overwhelming majority of fighters never have an issue with cutting weight and changing the rules of the sport to compensate for those few guys isn't the answer.  The fighters are responsible for fighting at a the weight where they can perform their best, and most of them do.

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I know when I was in high school, at the beginning of the season, they'd certify us at a hard lowest weight allowed.  They basically weighted us, then used that, height, and BFP to determine the lowest weight class we were allowed to wrestle at.  That all went to the State Commishion and if we tried to sneak in a class lower and we got caught, match foreited and an automatic 2 meet ban.  But even in High School, we were doing whacked out shit to cut weight, most of which are unheard of now (like no water during practice),  And doing that shit fucks you up horribly.  I went *very* little food/water for 3 days before weigh in (which was 1 hour before meet start) and was in shit shape.  Tried a gradual cut down over a month with steady diet/water and was 100% fine.  

 

I guess the moral is, competitors should know how to cut down and do it responsibility, so that it doesn't affect your performance.

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Guys are forced to forfeit 20% of their fight purse for missing weight.

 

Cage Warriors I think docks 60% for missing weight, but they can get away with that because they are in England.

 

Would North American athletic commissions allow penalties like that for missing weight?  Also who gets the money if it was that harsh a penalty?  The opponent or the promotion?  Does a chunk of it go to the commission?  I mean think about this.  UFC 173 still did about 200,000 buys, right?  So if Barao was getting PPV points that kick in around that point, if UFC 177 did similar business, he lost a pretty sizable payday.

 

Let's also keep in mind that Barao and Cejudo both got very sick during weight cutting.  They couldn't make weight, couldn't fight and got paid nothing after having to spend money on training, coaches, managers, etc. Not sure how their sponsors handle this either.  So technically that's their penalty.  Plus it has effectively ruined their reputation with the promotions.  How can UFC trust Barao in a main event title situation ever again?

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I don't know the science of it all, but if you have a 1-week weigh-in where you can only 15 pounds over and then the normal 1-day weigh-in, can't the fighter just cut down for the 1-week check and then gain the water weight back and cut down again the day before the fight?  Or is that too much stress on the body to put it through that and still be able to fight?

Why would you do that? The whole deal is coming in as dehydrated and waterless as possible so after you make the weight, you can carb back up and "re-energize" before the fight. Guys can come in 15 or so pounds heavier for the actual fight itself than they weighed at the weigh-in the day before.

 

They need to discourage fighters from putting themselves in positions where they're trying to drop 20 pounds in four or five days. Making sure they're, say, just 10 pounds above weigh-in weight a week before the fight is one way to insure they won't be dropping 20 in four or five days, 'cause they won't have 20 to drop.

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Barao said he was cutting 10 kilos, which is like 22 pounds. So he was going from 157-ish to 135, and back. Which to me didn't sound too unreasonable until I figured it would be like starting at my bodyweight at age 25, and dropping to my bodyweight at age 15. Which seems horrific.

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Guys are forced to forfeit 20% of their fight purse for missing weight.

 

The money isn't really the biggest deterrent, IMO.  It's Dana cutting guys or forcing them to move weight classes.  You miss weight once, you go to the back of the line in the division until you can prove you can make weight without a problem for a few fights in a row.

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I know Cormier made the light heavyweight limit, but he's the first person I think of when I think "trapped between weight classes." He may be too big to be a light heavyweight, but not big enough to be a heavyweight. 

Is he really not big enough to be a heavyweight? Granted, he doesn't have a massive frame, but he dismissed Bigfoot, Mir and Barnett with close to no issue. In fact, he threw Barnett - the best of the three, I reckon - around like he was nothing. He's pals with Cain, which is why he's gone to LHW. It's not like anyone was smushing him. 

 

 

They need to discourage fighters from putting themselves in positions where they're trying to drop 20 pounds in four or five days. Making sure they're, say, just 10 pounds above weigh-in weight a week before the fight is one way to insure they won't be dropping 20 in four or five days, 'cause they won't have 20 to drop.

Sorry, not picking on you! Only just realised these are both your posts. :)

 

Does the week-in-advance guarantee anything? After seeing what some of these fighters do, given that they're used to cutting 24 hours in advance, who is to say they wont cut a week ahead, balloon back up and cut again? That'd be even unhealthier, and not inconceivable, given the lengths these people go to for an advantage. 

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If you want to see how bad dudes want to be in the UFC, look at Chas Skelly last Friday night. The poor guy could not stand up moments after the fight and he won!

 

He was an absolute lunatic for taking the Soriano fight, but in this day and age, winning two fights in 13 days is damn impressive. Hopefully he got a nice locker room bonus for that.

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How do you determine what a guy's natural weight is year round though?  And who keeps track of it?

You can probably come up with something based around height and measurements (chest, arm, leg, etc).  I would be surprised if there is not something in place already.

 

Once Apple comes out with healthkit and Android catches up there should be some sort of medical database created for fighters so that during weight cuts one can get an idea of how it adversely affects the body.  

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