Weight Cuting, Redux

We’ve recently published an article related to the weight cutting issues in MMA, which have become a lot common since the introduction of the early weigh-in and the ban on intravenous (IV) re-hydration. I don’t want to continue beating a dead horse (where’s the referee to stop this beating?), but this issue deserves additional discussion in the light of the current MMA climate.  Fighters missing weight (or suffering health issues during the weight cut process which are severe enough to cancel the fight altogether) happens so often these days, that fans should be able to use the price per head sportsbook for placing bets on which fights will be cancelled in the 24 hours before the event. The regulatory bodies involved with the sport are well aware of these issues, and Andy Foster – executive officer of the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) – recently proposed a set of changes to address extreme weight cutting in MMA.

Foster’s proposal includes 10 key points, and I am not going to go over each one individually – you can read them all here, under “Agenda Item #15”. Most of the proposed points make sense, are feasible to implement without undue burden on promoters or fighters, and might actually make the sport safer for its participants, as well as reduce the number of disappointing last-minute fight cancellations. Whether these rules will actually be implemented is anybody’s guess, and the fact that some fighters will still find a way to bend or break the rules in attempt to gain a competitive advantage (even at the risk of their own health) is pretty much a given. Overall this seems like a very solid plan, which is unusual for something produced by a state athletic commission. However there are two points that I do want to address specifically, as they seem to be the biggest gaps in the otherwise well-thought out design:

• Additional weight classes. 165, 175, 195, 225 with the removal of 170. This places each weight class below 205 at 10 pound increments. Along with licensing by weight class and ringside physician certification, the new weight classes· are essential so that each individual athlete has more options to choose a class that is suitable for them. (Authority-Association of Boxing Commissions) – Please see attached letter from the ABC Rules Committee and letter to the ABC Medical Committee

The proposal states nothing about 155 or below, heavyweights, or women’s weight divisions – so I am assuming these will be left intact. If the leading MMA promotions as well as state and international commissions all decide to adopt the new weight classes, this will lead to a major redistribution of talent. Lightweight, welterweight, and even middleweight as of late, are some of the deepest divisions in the sport, and have the talent pool to support the redistribution of fighters who currently perform between 155 and 185 lbs into five viable divisions spanning from 155 to 195. For light-heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, however, this doesn’t look promising.

In the early, no-holds-barred days of the sport, there were no weight classes and the majority of the fighters were big men – most would be competing at 205 or above today. As NHB slowly morphed into MMA as we know it, rules and weight classes were introduced. The initial division by weight (introduced in UFC 12) was heavyweights (200 lbs and above) and lightweights (under 200 lbs). More weight classes were added eventually, and while every newly introduced weight class started out with a bare-bone group of fighters, there was a slow trickle-down of heavier fighters into lower divisions. This started the weight cutting dilemma that we’re facing today, and also resulted in the current landscape of the sport where the heaviest divisions are now barren, while the lighter weights are teeming with elite competitors. When I started watching MMA around 2002, light-heavyweight was the marquee division of both UFC and Pride, the two premier leagues at the time. Fifteen years later, 205 is basically on life support, struggling to find any serious contenders outside of 5-10 top fighters. Heavyweights are not doing much better – it’s a division filled with living relics at the tail end of their careers, a measly handful of interesting prospects, and a whole lot of slop.

Of course this makes sense: on average, most men in athletic shape do not weight in far north of 200 pounds. Humans tend to be bigger in US than other parts of the world, but large athletic guys are likely to pursue more lucrative sports like basketball or football. For smaller athletes, the team sport options are far more limited, and there is more opportunity in combat sports where weight divisions are the great equalizer. So what will happen if we introduce 195 and 225 divisions in addition to 205 and 265? The already thin heavier divisions will become even more anemic by splitting up the existing talent pool. It’s not like adding a 225 lbs cruiser-weight division will cause an influx of new blood into MMA. Replacing 170 with 165 and 175 makes a bit of sense; but 195 and 225 are a horrible idea in my opinion.  I also don’t get the logic of making weight classes below 205 at 10 pound increments. The amount of water weight a human being can safely cut is based on the percentage of starting body weight. Ten pounds is not a magic number that will solve any problems; we’ve seen plenty of failed cuts at 125, 135, etc – if anything, they’re more common the lower you go. A logical approach geared toward making the sport safer would have a smaller separation between divisions at lower weights, and progressively increase at higher weights. This should be based on percentages and not a static number. The proposed progression of weight classes doesn’t make weight cutting any safer than the current system.

• Implement policy changes to the way matches are approved with an emphasis on appropriate weight class. A formal request has been made to the Official Database of the ABC to add a weight class category as a required field and also a listing by the matchmaker of the weight the fighter was when the bout was offered. – Please see attached letter to the Official MMA Record Keeper of the ABC

This sounds good in theory… until you realize that the keeper of the Official Database of the ABC is The Underground. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to bash the ‘UG’ – it’s always been a great forum for MMA fans, and played a key role in the creation of Fight Matrix. However, if you ever browse the forum, you’ll find a plethora of complaints about buggy, outdated, poorly designed and implemented software which runs the UG website and it’s mobile applications. Of course the same software is used to maintain the fight database, and software issues aside, the database itself is very incomplete and ripe with errors and omissions. I never understood why Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports chose MixedMartialArts.com as it’s official record keeper, over far more accurate, complete, up-to-date, and better maintained MMA databases – like Sherdog for example. But since they did make this choice and are sticking with it, the commissions should hold their official database provider to an higher standard of quality, and allocate funding to this cause. All those fees from fighters’ weight misses and PED test failures should be put to a good purpose… As things stand, adding a required field to a heap of inaccurate data is like putting a band-aid on Mark Hunt’s shin after his fight with Overeem at UFC 209. The outcome of using data to mitigate a problem is directly correlated to the quality of data being used, and as everyone in the software industry knows: garbage in equals garbage out.