MMA & Boxing: Same Day Weigh-Ins – Has the Time Finally Come?
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By Nathan “Diesel” Hendrickson
The latest season of The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians, Episode 4: “Boiling Point” which aired last month on May 13th featured another seemingly healthy fighter fall ill to the side effects of a drastic weight cut.
Steve Montgomery of American Top Team had a dramatic seizure that was filmed and aired on the Fox broadcast. After he was taken to the hospital, Steve was diagnosed with hyponatremia, a condition that occurs when the level of sodium in the blood is abnormally low. Fighters during weight cuts often have low levels of sodium due to drinking large amounts of water to flush their system. Combined with a weight-cut diet that may not replenish the body with the necessary nutrients and electrolytes, a recipe for disaster exists.
While Steve was eventually given a clean bill of health from his doctors, he was still pulled from the show as a precaution, thus, temporarily at the very least, ending his opportunity to compete in the UFC.
Health problems associated with weight-cuts aren’t limited to MMA. After several deaths of student athletes, the NCAA has adopted rules governing the management of weight cuts, recommending that athletes keep weight cuts to 5% of their hydrated weight before competition.
The Association of Ringside Physicians (ARP) has also “weighed-in” (pun intended) on the matter in a statement released last year. According to the ARP,
Unhealthy and sometimes dangerous weight loss practices continue to be a significant problem in amateur and professional combat sports. The ARP recommends that regulatory bodies adopt standardized weigh-in policies in conjunction with year-round weight management and educational programs.
The ARP goes on to state:
The ARP recommends standardized weigh-in policies in conjunction with year-round weight management programs. These would include scheduling weigh-ins twenty four hours or less before the start of competition. Therefore, establishing a lowest allowed fighting weight (weight class) for competitors through body composition and hydration assessment is essential. Combatants should be assessed and certified at their appropriate weight annually. This assessment should be completed by non-biased examiners, in conjunction with licensure, and stored in an international data bank accessible to athletic regulatory bodies. In this light, the ARP will be establishing a medical database to provide this and other resources. Regulatory bodies should also consider adding additional weight classes in certain sports where needed.
To highlight another ramification of drastic weight cuts in layman’s terms, consider this: We have a brain. In fights or rigorous activity, the brain gets knocked around. If the brain connects with the cranial wall, the person the brain belongs to gets knocked out, and/or a concussion, and/or a traumatic brain injury. So what is surrounding that brain? Cranial fluid which is mostly water. What happens when a fighter dehydrates themselves rapidly? The fluid surrounding the brain decreases, thus providing less of a cushion to the brain when it gets knocked around. The possible end result? An increased likelihood of injury to the athlete.
Another draw-back to “gaming” weight cuts is its common for a fighter to “game” the weight-cut process to weigh “X” weight the day before the fight, then gain a large amount of weight in the 24 hours leading up to the event. If the other fighter has weighed in at closer to their natural weight, then that fighter who is closer to his or her natural weight is at a disadvantage.
A good example is the February 26th, 2000 bout between the late Arturo Gatti and Joey Gamache. The fight was to take place at 140 pounds. Gatti devastated Gamache in the second round, with Gamache claiming afterwards that he was permanently injured after the fight. Gamache claimed that Gatti actually weighed about 20 pounds more than Gamache did during the fight, and went on to sue Gatti and the New York State Athletic Commission. After the fight, many in the boxing world pushed for revised rules to prevent “gaming” the weight-cut process.
Ringside Report readers — Do you have a weight-cut story? Leave a Facebook Comment on the site.
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