It’s the most insane thing when you step back and look at it: 2 guys who weigh 190lbs, give or take, drain & dehydrate themselves massively to get down to 155lbs.....to then rehydrate in one day and fight another rehydrated guy, both being back up to like 175-180lbs. So it’s really like a zero sum game, and actually it’s a negative sum, there really is no advantage when everyone is doing it, weight cutting only serves to diminish the fighters
The funniest part of it being that they often do it to avoid fighting fighters from higher weight class cutting down to theirs, so they cut weight themselves to fight smaller opponents who then also have to cut down etc. So literally nothing changes.
@@millsbillzI think mentally he needs one last win before he leaves the sport, but it might be a while before he gets it. He's trying to win his legacy back but he's losing more in the process, like a gambler.
Bulimia and binge eating is such an underrated (not talked about enough) issue, in combat sports and in general, it's so debilitating and tolling on your mind and body. Great video, very much needed topic to discuss.
There is a pretty meaningful difference between someone that does this because of body image and mental illness as opposed to fighters doing it for strategic reasons. It’s unhealthy no matter the motives, and no one should put their body thru this.. but it is a little weird to just say a fighter who cuts weight and then gains weight has bulimia ..
Insane to me that you've just uploaded this, about 5 days ago I submitted my dissertation on this exact thing. The psychological effects of weight cutting on combat sports athletes. Fantastic video
The cyborg clip is always hard to watch. The pain to make someone who's willing to put their life on the line fighting in front of millions, and push themselves training their whole life, it must be hell.
The UFC needs to introduce same-day weigh-ins 1 hour before the event. There problem solved. Weight cutting ruins mma because it turns it into a competition thats not about whos the best fighter, but whos the best at cutting 30+ pounds of water without dying and can perform the next day without being massively handicapped after dehydrating themselves like a prune. If we got rid of weight cutting, it would solve a lot of problems. Especially this crap where fighters can hop between divisions and try to do this constant champ-champ garbage. Plus it would lead to more exciting fights because fighters are no longer competing while coming back from the brink of death just one day prior. They would perform better! And they would have longer careers because theyre no longer taxing their bodies so heavily prior to each and every contest. It would eliminate weight bullying. The list goes on... EDIT: Furthermore (since this post has so many upvotes), coinciding this reform, the weight classes should also be reformed. Having such a big jump between 170 to 185, 185 to 205, and 205 to 265 makes no sense. I propose we introduce a couple more divisions to fill these huge gaps, and we segregate each division by 5 kilograms / 11 pounds. This is what that would look like: atom weight would be at 45 kg, straw weight at 50kg, fly weight at 55 kg, bantam weight at 60kg, feather weight 65kg, light weight 70 kg, super light weight 75kg, welter weight 80 kg, middle weight 85 kg, super middle weight 90 kg, light heavy weight 95kg, Cruiser Weight 100kg, and then heavy weight could be 100kg+ with no upper weight limit. I say this for heavy weight because diminishing returns kicks in hard past the 100-110kg threshold, and more size isn't necessarily an advantage. All of the heavy weight GOATs such as Fedor and Stipe only weighed around 230-240 lbs anyways, and regularly beat guys way bigger than them (see Big Nog vs Bob Sapp, Cain vs Lesnar), so I don't think a super heavy weight division or a weight cap is necessary because all of the best heavy weights tend to cap off under 250 lbs anyways. 300+ pound men are usually slower, less skilled, and have poorer cardio.
I fight in Thailand, and we do same day weigh ins. Pretty much everyone just cuts less weight, and guys can fight more often. Since there not cutting tons of weight
100% agreed & well said. I’ve always thought this. There should be same day weight ins or a hydration clause to where you can’t add back on anymore than 5#.
Yes and then fighters constantly fall out without replacements are cards are ruined and UFC's stock drops and fighters will not eat or drink before a fight and ruin their performance that way.
I think TJ going down in weight class might go down as one of the worst decisions in MMA history. I believe (no way to know of course) that the shoulder injury that would haunt him later was, if not caused by this strain on his body, was at the very least exacerbated by it. Going through a camp while in nutrient deficit to cut weight must be terrible for the connective tissue.
@MixedMartialAcademic Ya Tjs fights were always fun to watch. The worst thing about it, is that there was absolutely no reason for him to go down. His coaches/family should have talked sense into him
Can't wait for this one. It is so ridiculous that we have such a double standard with steroids and weight cutting. With steroids, it is extremely hard to stop, but we test them anyway because we don't want athletes to jeopardize their health. With weight cutting, it is extremely easy to stop them from gaining an advantage from weight cutting, but we don't do anything.
Respectfully, this is a crappy argument. No one is mandating people to take illegal substances to gain an advantage. Fighters are mandated to meet the weight limits they sign up for. They choose to compete at a weight they naturally can’t meet because they want the advantage or be in a weight class they don’t belong in. Yes, we should prevent the harm weight cutting cost to fighters but they willfully do it to their own detriment. I AGREE THAT WEIGHT CUTTING IS AWFUL AND SHOULD BE REGULATED BETTER. But claiming a double standard for steroids to weight cutting is absurd. One is illegal and is dangerous to both fighters competing while the other is a poor choice that affects the one doing it.
@@matthewsalesman5225 I agree with this. If you can make weight then I have no issue. The dangers should be discussed, and there should be more regulation as you mentioned
@@akaInfamous You just need steps to prevent extreme dehydration, like the tests ONE does at Weigh-Ins... Weighing in isn't the issue, having such disparate weightclasses where many fighters are naturally Catchweight so forced to fight down or fight people much larger is what forces people to do this.
@@matthewsalesman5225 I mean, mate, for anabolic steroids anyway what, exactly, is the difference when the major variable is the size and strength of the opponent? The UFC could easily avoid this through hydration testing prior to the fight. Is it fair to smaller fighters that they are forced into contests with much larger fighters when their reputation, and thus livelihood, is on the line? I mean the notion of PEDs being illegal is largely ridiculous anyway, MMA is an exceptionally juicy sport and the UFC likely binned USADA so they would stop losing money from getting their top fighters suspended due to positive tests. It's largely just social stigma in the extreme around it, and to be honest, using many steroids is far less harsh on your body than a brutal cut that hospitalizes you with the potential for death, depending on dose obviously.
Honestly PEDs should probably just enter the pool as a controlled substance open to fighters in a discrete quantity. MMA is exceptionally juicy sport already, all that testing does is discriminate against fighters not favoured by the organization.
Joe Rogan made a really good point about it, it's basically sanctioned cheating. A 165-pound guy fighting at 135 pounds has more of an effect than using PEDs. If they can ban PEDs, why can't they ban weight cutting?
@@scottc2076 He Did,but it was a long time ago,before the ufc,around 2010-2011 when he was young and also welterweight not lightweight,so you're absolutely right
When the UFC Lightweight division started, the best were guys like Jens Pulver, Sean Sherk, BJ Penn, and Frankie Edgar. Nowadays, those guys would be tiny for the division and more suited for Bantamweight or Flyweight.
@@_GOD_HAND_ yeah that's because BJ Penn didn't want to cut weight. If you look at some guys in Bantamweight (Sandhagen, O'Malley, Vera, formerly Sterling, etc.) they have a much bigger frame then BJ. If they wanted to eat a lot of food then they could come into a fight weighing 190 just like BJ lol. My point is that guys cut wayyy more weight these days compared to back then. He may have been big for Lightweight back then. But today, if he was in Lightweight he would be small compared to Islam, Poirier, and Gaethje.
Tom's jawline can cut glass Jesus Christ On a serious note, really great video on a topic that has so much nuance. It's always crazy the amount of effort you put into these
Beneil Dariush looking like a COD zombie on the scales was probably the most sobering moment in recent memory. Genuinely thought that man was on the brink of death. Great video as per as well. Wordplay that would make Shakespeare jealous
Im so glad that you drew the comparison to eating disorders. I think ive teetered on the edge of an ED my whole adult life, and seeing the segment with TJ made me wonder "at whon point is this just an ED?"
I don't know how you could stop it. Unless organizations measure the walking weight of fighters and their fight weight can't diverge from that by x amount of lbs. And to control people's weight fluctuations seems unnecessarily imposing on athlete lives.
@@user-lj5wy9hz2ydon’t even need to go that far, just add same day weigh ins, if your 10+ lbs heavier on fight night than you were at the official weigh-in you get a fine and forfeit the fight.
I like this idea of same day weigh ins. Everyone wins, fighters have to fight at a reasonable weight cut which is essentially just their in shape weight, less tragedies, fighters can likely be more active and fans see fighters at peak performance. It’d take 6-18 months to figure out everyone’s new weight class but it’d be sorted out and we’d all forget about the current system in no time.
Same day takes away far too much focus from the fight. Fighters ONLY concern on fight day should be fighting. Period. Just limit how much weight they can gain after initial weigh-ins. It’s much less stressful to make weight then limit how much you gain, than it is to have to be an exact weight just an hour before a fight.
I fight in a month and it’s all same day weigh ins, it’ll be interesting because it’s my first match where this is all happening so I will hang around and see if there’s any weight misses and whatnot mines heavyweight so I don’t have a concern
@@SnailHatan it wont take nothing away from the fight, their only concern should be to maintain their normal/everyday/training weight. Its better than the current format in everyway
people will still cut and attempt to rehydrate that day, many would go into the cage still dehydrated. Its good to give the fighters atleast 24 hours to recover after weightcuts
I’m not even that big of an MMA fan, but your videos are so informative and thoughtful that I can’t help but watch. Keep it up man. You’re doing important work.
I’m working on rigs here in my shop , and I listen and just take my mind off work , while I hear you narrate these documentaries. The best part is that it’s free !!! Thanks man , I hope you are getting paid by RUclips , you work is excellent. You deserve more subscribers. I love the background music lol , techno ? I don’t know I just enjoy your documentaries , no bias, nothing political, nothing weird , straight to the point and factual!! Thanks again brother
145lb class for women would 100% make WMMA more interesting. We don’t need a bunch of extra divisions tho, maybe one for men at 165. And one for women at 145. That would allow the best and most violent female fighters to come in feeling good and get Kos
When I first started competing as an amateur kickboxer and MMA athlete, I knew virtually nothing about cutting weight, so I was extremely reliant on my training partners who had more experience than me. I cut 18 pounds in 72 hours, and felt like I was dying! Turns out, I really might have been. I have no wrestling background, so I had no frame of reference, and it was absolutely brutal. And by professional MMA fighters standards, 18 pounds is nothing. As I continued to train and compete, I got my "walking around" weight down to within 7 pounds of the weight class I'd be fighting in, just because I made changes to my diet and cardio regimen. Long story short: cutting weight sucks, and it's not worth whatever advantage it gives you, which I wish I knew when I was a young man hoping to be world champ someday. Spoiler alert: I retired after 4-3 record in amateur MMA and 6-3 as an amateur kickboxer, due to some scary post-concussion issues (another serious problem in combat sports), so "world championship fighter" was never in the cards for me.
Khabib VS Tony in his prime Would’ve been such a great banger I think Tony would have done the most damage to khabib ever by an opponent but still lose by submission
Khabib would have gotten his shit rocked, khabib had practically no striking game and tony was excellent at takedown defense. Khabib no fighting tony saved his legacy.
Yeah right bro. Tony is the kind of guy who got the shit beat outta him by Gaethje, arm snapped by Charles, kicked into orbit around the sun by Chandler, choked out by Bobby AND Nate, wrestlefucked by Dariush, oh yeah and smacked around by Paddy. And to think people actually thought he could beat Khabib. 😂 I digress.
I think just adding more weight classes and not doing anything else is just going to allow some fighters to cut more to have an even bigger size advantage. If you want to stop weight cutting, you have to take away the advantage of weight cutting. Do cage side weigh-ins without the opportunity to put the weight back on. If fighters continue to dehydrate after that without getting an advantage then that is their own fault. As long as we give fighters the choice to not dehydrate without taking a competitive disadvantage, I don’t care about fighters choosing to dehydrate for NO advantage. We shouldn’t ask smart fighters to set themselves on fire to keep the dumb fighters warm.
@@MixedMartialAcademicI think it is an example where the "system" then needs to adapt to address the loopholes being used by athletes - especially if it's harmful to them.
How u trying to fight for something nobody but yall want lmaoo none of you are competing in these fights but feel a need to tell someone else how to fight fair that's the problem yall think it matters what yall think 😂😂 yall soft so to yall it's omg he weighs 20 more pounds on fight night then this guy n alot them guys lose who are bigger so idk understand yall point make it safer for fighters who don't want that to find a more dangerous loop hole like what 😂😂😂 moronic
Amazing video! I've also heard people talking about how 'gangster' it is to make weight on short notice and thought the same, that it's crazy and irresponsible. Can you imagine the best Olympic athletes in 100m or a marathon or any other number of sports doing this to themselves and then trying to compete and be the best they could? Then you add the brain trauma... it's a crazy situation and needs to be stopped.
Not watched this yet, but... Cyborg had doctors try to take blood during a weight cut and the blood was so thick it wouldn't even draw up into the needle properly. Can you *imagine* what having blood that thick is doing to the heart that's pumping it?
The scene with the projected image over the shoulder was a nice touch. No surprise to me the scenes are as well thought out as the scripts. Great video.
The more I learned about MMA the more I dislike it. Every single one of these guys has CTE and nobody inside the management of the sport is doing anything to try and protect them. Dudes are literally killing themselves
It’s insane and it’s not fair to the people who actually fight at their natural weight. People who fight at light weight 155lbs walk around at light heavy weight (185lbs) 😊
My first kickboxing tournament I fought at 153 and I walked around at 175 6’2. That last 9 pounds was brutal. Could not sleep because I was overheated. And this was for no money. Weight cutting sucks ass.
Then why do it? I used to wrestle in highschool and hated cutting weight. I'd never imagine doing it again. I went blind twice from how dehydrated I'd get.
Sorry to sound like a dick, I’m an mma fighter and I have cut weight just so I can find fights so I’ve been there but only about 4 kilos Why cut so much then ?
The focus shouldn't be on the hardships of weight cutting but rather on the reasons WHY you guys even do it in the first place smh all for an advantage? Just fight honestly at your honest weight division
People like Joe Rogan that say cutting large amounts of weight is a bigger advantage than steroids have little to no perspective on how brutal weight cutting is. If you use steroids you don’t make yourself easier to knock out and the majority of negative effects on your body are long term not short and long term like weight cutting. Incredible video as always you always cover the less flashy but equally as important aspects of the sport.
None of the potential "benefits" outweigh the simple fact that weight cutting also reduces Cerebrospinal fluid in your brain... the fluid that both protects the brain from injury, impact and ensures proper neuron firing. It takes DAYS to weeks to fully recover diminished cerebrospinal fluid losses from dehydration.. not 24 hrs. This means every fighter that undergoes water dehydration to make weight is also reducing cerebrospinal fluid in their brain, meaning they are VASTLY more susceptible to knockouts because they no longer have adequate fluid in the brain to protect it and are also fighting at diminished mental capacity as their neurons cannot fire efficiently, which is what is used often to make split second decisions in combat in relation to gauging when to strike , dodge, block etc. Slow neurons = slow fighter. As viewers, we are literally watching INFERIOR fighters if they weight cut. Their brains are more vulnerable and incapable of making ideal rapid decisions in combat to fight at their most efficient level. Not to even mention the fact that any doctor will tell you the BODY alone CANNOT recover from the damage done in just 24 hrs of rehydrating. It too can take days or weeks to fully recover. We are watching inferior fighters when they weight cut when gauged from a medical / physiological perspective.
Dude. First off I have to say .. I hope this video blows up because you did an OUTSTANDING job on this man. Well done, and you got a new sub out of me!
Thanks for the video. Good stuff. I started competing in kickboxing as a teenager, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a healthy relationship with my weight ever since. It’s been fifteen years and I still weigh myself every day to manage weight, because I’m still fighting. The weird thing is that you can’t really stop as long as you’re active. I do a lot of BJJ now, and they often have ~10kg weight classes. You don’t wanna be on the wrong side of that limit.
Hi thanks for the documentation iam actually doing a Presentation for my a level exams in germany about commercalisation in the ufc and how it affects the fighters health your videos really helped thanks.
I have stumbled on your channel today and while I enjoy the serious topics in question, it is warming my heart the respect you are showing to amazing yet underappreciated athletes like DJ.
Good on you for presenting a possible way to improve the situation. The more the fans are made aware of this the more they will push for changes. The sport is never going to make these changes as long as they money is flowing, they don't care until they start worrying the fans will turn on them.
I agree I would like this but the issue is there would also have to be anti-dehydration protocol. People know the dangers but will still cut weight to have an advantage. Even if they get no chance to rehydrate. They will still risk it for that perceived advantage
@@ElevatedAgenda you're right and I would hope it would. I am being a bit of a devils advocate. In the end I do just want the weight cutting problems to be resolved
Thank you for making this video! Its crazy that the best attribute that a fighter can have for mma isnt their strength, or power, or cardio, or fight iq, but the ability to cut 30 pounds of water without dying and then performing well the next day witbout being handicapped after dehydrating themselves like a prune. Weight cutting definitely ruins the sport because it turns it into a contest of whos the best weight cutter first, and whos the best fighter second. The fact that soccer kicks and grounded knees, two techniques that have killed no one are illegal, yet weight cutting, which actually has killed fighters and sent them to the ER is allowed and encouraged is ridiculous!
The Academic has got to be one of one of the best sport doc narrators EVER! I always knew weigh cuts could be brutal, but had NO IDEA to that extreme extent!! SO GLAD I FOUND THIS CHANNEL! The sign of a GREAT documentary is when it’s a subject you think you know a decent amount abt but at the end you realize you didn’t know shit!! 😂😂👏👏👏
If you have to cut more than 10 pounds, that weight class is not for you. Most fighters try to abuse exploits in the weight cutting system, so that they can be huge and fight little guys. The entire purpose of the weight class, is to keep the fighters at the same weight, so that it’s fair. It was never intended for people who are 30 pounds overweight weight, to dehydrate themselves, only to put it back on.
Jesus Christ. What these fighters go through for weight cut is horrendous. UFC is just giving me more reasons to support and become even bigger fan of ONE Championship more and more. They don’t do that out of touch, barbaric nonsense over there. And have a wider range of weight classes Well documented and informative video lad. Thank you for bringing these things out to the light for fight fans who aren’t ware this stuff.
....not to burst your bubble, but check out some videos actually taking a look at ONEs weigh in policies. Luke Thomas has some good videos about it. It’s not as good as it seems. They still have guys cutting weight, despite their “hydration testing”, plus ONE is not transparent with the actual details and info of the whole processes Don’t get me wrong though, I enjoy ONE very much, they have a great mix of kickboxing and Muay Thai with 4oz gloves . But they are just as suspect as any other promotion, when it comes to their practices
No they are not like other promotions. I'm sure they have fighters that screw the system. However, even if it's flawed, they are making a real effort to restrict and eliminate weight cutting. Even if they are not eliminating it outright, they are making a public effort to put a stop to it.
I really can't believe they are going thru this 24hrs before getting into a MMA fight!? That's gotta be the WORST thing ever. Why can't we adjust the sport to keep different people near their normal "in shape" weight? There can still be the range of divisions but off set what those divisions are. No grown pro athlete male should ever way 125! I weighed that in the beginning of High school and I'm only 5'7".. *BTW I like the skateboard in the background. I grew up skateboarding since HS. Only stopped a few yrs ago at 31 when I ruptured my ACL and couldn't skate after the surgery
"No grown pro athlete male should ever weight 125 pounds" 125 pounds isn't an unhealthy weight for a shorter man. What's unhealthy is the practice of cutting excessive amounts of water and body fat from your body to make weight, only to gain that weight in the next 24 hours to fight at a much heavier weight.
Man this was extremely well done. Really opened my eyes to a whole other side of weight cutting. Props to Josh Barnett & others touting same day weigh-ins. It needs to be the norm.
I think it’s kind of disingenuous to paint these athletes as victims, like this whole process is voluntary and is for selfish desires. Like no one feels bad for David Goggins for all the shit he goes through because he chooses to do so, same for these guys. Painting it like they are takin advantage is just not the case.
I see your point for sure, but also consider that in order to have a fair as possible fight most athletes are forced to do massive cuts or they’ll just be victims themselves of weight bullies. It’s a vicious cycle. People who are naturally 155lbs or so, would be fighting people who weigh 185lbs naturally, so the 155lbs naturals cut to like 135lbs to avoid being a victim. The whole thing is messed up and they need weigh ins 2hrs before the fight to stop this madness across the board
FANTASTIC video. Professionally produced. Excellent oration. Can’t say enough good stuff about this video. Keep ‘em coming. I am a new fan of your channel. Thank you.
I think the effects are more so long term that short, there still are short term effects, but yeah the advantages outweigh the negative for the better part of a career it seems
This video is amazing man, very important message, this deserves much more vews. This is the biggest problem in fight sports and it's a topic that's not talked about enough. Weight plays a massive role and some people are naturally able to loose and gain massive ammounts, while others literaly risk their lives just to be able to compete. Weight classes exist for making fights fair, but how is it fair if someone is able to gain 15 pounds before the fight compared to the other guy who's genetics allow him to gain 45 ? There are people who's bodies can't handle it and something needs to be done, at least to reduce this risk.
I would love to see this cocept play out in a promotion, I honestly think it could work, but I hate to think of fighters trying to push that boundry. Hydration test and same day weigh in, and weight checks through out the year. But is that over the top?
My background is in Wrestling. In 1997 three NCAA wrestlers died cutting weight. After that the NCAA and later NFHS (high school) put in weight management programs that limit how much they can cut per week. Its not perfect, but its better than the old days of wrestling. Does UFC and other MMA promotions have any weight management programs? EDIT Should have finished the video before commenting, good stuff glad I found this channel
It's not concern trolling its a fleshed out point of view that many people agree with, Drama added to a video isn't view chasing it's storytelling. Don't conflate the two. If I wanted to view chase I'd make documentries on fighters every video bub.
Appeal to authority, concern trolling, hyperbolic (what ever that actually means); brother you are just saying things other people have said. None of those things happened in this video you melt.
I cut from 150 to 125 in high school for wrestling... I collapsed and passed out during training. When the medical staff finally got the 6 pairs of sweats off, they realized I was wearing plastic pants.... got suspended... probably saved my life... we had to make weight weekly... I was told that my 125 lb spot was taken... so I had to step up to 135 lb ... never won another match.... I was not a good wrestler and I gave it my all, these professionals have been progressively doing this weight cut thing since middle school... thank you for helping to bring light to this. I don't ever see it stopping, it's a necessary evil, but hopefully at some point children are allowed to be children and grow, and as adults make the decision to cut weight ...
The fix for drastic weightcutting is a weigh in shortly (e.g. 2 hours) before competition. That still allows an athlete to cut 3-4kg if they need to, but beyond that and you cannot rehydrate fast enough to be in shape. There is absolutely no reason not to do this.
Because fighters will still dehydrate themselves for the competitive advantage. Would be even more dangerous than having cuts as a result. It’s why boxing made the shift cuz too many people in lower classes were dying. A more substantial version of one champs solution is a good avenue to pursue
@@MMAVoodoo well, there's the drawback that with shorter weigh ins, missing weight is more likely and happens on a short notice. But this already happens - so the fighters and their teams will just have cut less weight. Then there's the drawback of a fighter actually attempting the same weight cut they did before. But that's actually no longer an advantage, because they'd be fucked in the fight. So, go on, what am I missing?
@@IsleyNumber1 cutting weight still provides a competitive advantage. Fighters would just choose to enter the ring dehydrated, which can have fatal effects on the brain. Boxing did have same day weigh ins, people in lower weight classes kept dying, hence they moved them to the day before. Having a guy rehydrate 15+ pounds is quaint by comparison
@@RD-wg9em Ahh yes, the well known advantage of coming so dehydrated you might die from being hit Truly, something must be done to stop boxers from ekeing out that advantage
i dont get it man...its mental regardation...why dont they fight at their natural weight classes, viz a viz, tj at lightweight, islam at welterweight and so on but rather whine about weight cutting, like bro either fight at your natural weight class or just retire smh
@@zim-zf7mq if they can...then more power to them but clearly fighters like tj shouldn't drain to featherweight but to lightweight , islam to welterweight and so on
Great as always
I appreciate you as always mate! Keep up the grind.
@@MixedMartialAcademici think he meant me🙄
@@lionelrivera_MMA oh my god mom get the camera it's Lionel Rivera
This comment thread is amazing. Carry on.
@@TroyRobert dad! Come back from the milk store! It's Troy!
Tony Ferguson the type of guy to make weight for no reason
Why does he have to break our heart!
@@MixedMartialAcademic It was the beginning of the end.
Omg I laughed way too hard at this comment. 😂
It is his prophecy to fail 😂
🤣🤣🤣
Maybe that's why heavyweights always seem to the the most gentle and relaxed: they never have to go through weight cutting.
@BluemanitouParaon Tom Aspinall can solo the entirety of UFC if you exclude his fellow heavyweight-light heavyweight peers
Aspinal and DC have a nice lil belly so you know they're eating good and strong as hell
@BluemanitouParaon That's partly true in MMA, but certainly not in boxing.
@BluemanitouParaon Yes they are, it's simply a different style of fighting than the smaller guys.
@@OnlyTheStrongest116 there is probably no exclusion necessary but we’d never know since Dana won’t let him fight anyone
It’s the most insane thing when you step back and look at it:
2 guys who weigh 190lbs, give or take, drain & dehydrate themselves massively to get down to 155lbs.....to then rehydrate in one day and fight another rehydrated guy, both being back up to like 175-180lbs.
So it’s really like a zero sum game, and actually it’s a negative sum, there really is no advantage when everyone is doing it, weight cutting only serves to diminish the fighters
The funniest part of it being that they often do it to avoid fighting fighters from higher weight class cutting down to theirs, so they cut weight themselves to fight smaller opponents who then also have to cut down etc. So literally nothing changes.
Exactly, it's absurd
It should be banned. it's a hard enough in MMA.
From what i've heard maintaining weight without pre fight cutting tends to lead to more stamina during the fight but I'm not a fighter
I’m 5’10 180 I cut to 155 so I fight guys my height you can fight at 180 but you’d be fight guys 6’4-6’6
Tony Ferguson's spiral is one of the saddest things I've seen in combat sports. I really wish he would retire.
He can't
@@stevenn8888why? His contract?
@@millsbillzI think mentally he needs one last win before he leaves the sport, but it might be a while before he gets it. He's trying to win his legacy back but he's losing more in the process, like a gambler.
@@mitchellheffernan3024 yes, he also likes the feeling of pain
Tony's the type of guy who, gains weight in a sauna
TJ looking like Christian Bale in The Machinist
Bro, it’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen.
That's a damn good movie.
or looking like any Army Ranger school student during Florida phase.
Nice to see someone else liked the movie. Bale was 125lbs in the movie and he is fairly tall.
It's so archaic and so easy to solve, I don't understand why nobody's doing anything about it.
Bulimia and binge eating is such an underrated (not talked about enough) issue, in combat sports and in general, it's so debilitating and tolling on your mind and body.
Great video, very much needed topic to discuss.
People think it’s kind of a joke which is just strange. It’s a well documented psychological phenomenon that is affecting loads of fighters for sure.
I'm sure lots of men are secretly binge/purging but it's never reported.
There is a pretty meaningful difference between someone that does this because of body image and mental illness as opposed to fighters doing it for strategic reasons. It’s unhealthy no matter the motives, and no one should put their body thru this.. but it is a little weird to just say a fighter who cuts weight and then gains weight has bulimia ..
True
Fasting can be a abused strategy too...I see that alot
Insane to me that you've just uploaded this, about 5 days ago I submitted my dissertation on this exact thing. The psychological effects of weight cutting on combat sports athletes.
Fantastic video
What was the result of your dissertation(*from your submission*)?
The cyborg clip is always hard to watch.
The pain to make someone who's willing to put their life on the line fighting in front of millions, and push themselves training their whole life, it must be hell.
Plus all the bullying She had to take regarding her looks even saying She had a penis etc and the MMA laughing at her expenses.
The UFC needs to introduce same-day weigh-ins 1 hour before the event. There problem solved. Weight cutting ruins mma because it turns it into a competition thats not about whos the best fighter, but whos the best at cutting 30+ pounds of water without dying and can perform the next day without being massively handicapped after dehydrating themselves like a prune.
If we got rid of weight cutting, it would solve a lot of problems. Especially this crap where fighters can hop between divisions and try to do this constant champ-champ garbage. Plus it would lead to more exciting fights because fighters are no longer competing while coming back from the brink of death just one day prior. They would perform better! And they would have longer careers because theyre no longer taxing their bodies so heavily prior to each and every contest. It would eliminate weight bullying. The list goes on...
EDIT: Furthermore (since this post has so many upvotes), coinciding this reform, the weight classes should also be reformed. Having such a big jump between 170 to 185, 185 to 205, and 205 to 265 makes no sense. I propose we introduce a couple more divisions to fill these huge gaps, and we segregate each division by 5 kilograms / 11 pounds. This is what that would look like: atom weight would be at 45 kg, straw weight at 50kg, fly weight at 55 kg, bantam weight at 60kg, feather weight 65kg, light weight 70 kg, super light weight 75kg, welter weight 80 kg, middle weight 85 kg, super middle weight 90 kg, light heavy weight 95kg, Cruiser Weight 100kg, and then heavy weight could be 100kg+ with no upper weight limit.
I say this for heavy weight because diminishing returns kicks in hard past the 100-110kg threshold, and more size isn't necessarily an advantage. All of the heavy weight GOATs such as Fedor and Stipe only weighed around 230-240 lbs anyways, and regularly beat guys way bigger than them (see Big Nog vs Bob Sapp, Cain vs Lesnar), so I don't think a super heavy weight division or a weight cap is necessary because all of the best heavy weights tend to cap off under 250 lbs anyways. 300+ pound men are usually slower, less skilled, and have poorer cardio.
I fight in Thailand, and we do same day weigh ins. Pretty much everyone just cuts less weight, and guys can fight more often. Since there not cutting tons of weight
UFC would never agree to it since they'd have to cancel their card if someone misses it or ruin their credibility if they allowed the person to fight
@@halflucan they already do?
100% agreed & well said. I’ve always thought this. There should be same day weight ins or a hydration clause to where you can’t add back on anymore than 5#.
Yes and then fighters constantly fall out without replacements are cards are ruined and UFC's stock drops and fighters will not eat or drink before a fight and ruin their performance that way.
I think TJ going down in weight class might go down as one of the worst decisions in MMA history. I believe (no way to know of course) that the shoulder injury that would haunt him later was, if not caused by this strain on his body, was at the very least exacerbated by it. Going through a camp while in nutrient deficit to cut weight must be terrible for the connective tissue.
I honestly agree, and it's such a shame becuase dispite all his contraversies, he was such an entertaining fighter, one of my favourites always.
@MixedMartialAcademic Ya Tjs fights were always fun to watch. The worst thing about it, is that there was absolutely no reason for him to go down. His coaches/family should have talked sense into him
Why is no one talking about him cheating taking EPO during this camp
why would he be nutrient deficient? This sounds very far fetched...
@timhughes3684 ...because that's cool and TJ a good guy
Can't wait for this one. It is so ridiculous that we have such a double standard with steroids and weight cutting. With steroids, it is extremely hard to stop, but we test them anyway because we don't want athletes to jeopardize their health. With weight cutting, it is extremely easy to stop them from gaining an advantage from weight cutting, but we don't do anything.
Respectfully, this is a crappy argument. No one is mandating people to take illegal substances to gain an advantage. Fighters are mandated to meet the weight limits they sign up for. They choose to compete at a weight they naturally can’t meet because they want the advantage or be in a weight class they don’t belong in. Yes, we should prevent the harm weight cutting cost to fighters but they willfully do it to their own detriment. I AGREE THAT WEIGHT CUTTING IS AWFUL AND SHOULD BE REGULATED BETTER. But claiming a double standard for steroids to weight cutting is absurd. One is illegal and is dangerous to both fighters competing while the other is a poor choice that affects the one doing it.
@@matthewsalesman5225 I agree with this. If you can make weight then I have no issue. The dangers should be discussed, and there should be more regulation as you mentioned
@@akaInfamous
You just need steps to prevent extreme dehydration, like the tests ONE does at Weigh-Ins... Weighing in isn't the issue, having such disparate weightclasses where many fighters are naturally Catchweight so forced to fight down or fight people much larger is what forces people to do this.
@@matthewsalesman5225
I mean, mate, for anabolic steroids anyway what, exactly, is the difference when the major variable is the size and strength of the opponent? The UFC could easily avoid this through hydration testing prior to the fight. Is it fair to smaller fighters that they are forced into contests with much larger fighters when their reputation, and thus livelihood, is on the line?
I mean the notion of PEDs being illegal is largely ridiculous anyway, MMA is an exceptionally juicy sport and the UFC likely binned USADA so they would stop losing money from getting their top fighters suspended due to positive tests. It's largely just social stigma in the extreme around it, and to be honest, using many steroids is far less harsh on your body than a brutal cut that hospitalizes you with the potential for death, depending on dose obviously.
Honestly PEDs should probably just enter the pool as a controlled substance open to fighters in a discrete quantity. MMA is exceptionally juicy sport already, all that testing does is discriminate against fighters not favoured by the organization.
Conor at 145 is still the craziest cuts ive ever seen. He looked like a corpse.
It’s crazy seeing him go from that to the bloated alcoholic he looks like today.
Ya no one was mentioning that. He looked like a 2d character model
TJ looking like frank woods when he was in prisoned by Mendez
Dont be doing COD references down here ahaha
@@MixedMartialAcademiche ain’t wrong though
Chad imprisoned TJ?
Joe Rogan made a really good point about it, it's basically sanctioned cheating. A 165-pound guy fighting at 135 pounds has more of an effect than using PEDs. If they can ban PEDs, why can't they ban weight cutting?
You cant kill me
Thats why heavyweight is bittersweet. Bitter cuz a lot of them aren’t very technical, but sweet cuz they barley cut weight and knock eachother out
Thank you! So much work you put into this Videos! 🙏🏻
Thank you so much mate that means a lot 🙏
@@MixedMartialAcademic ✌🏻
This is why a dagestani will never take a short notice fight or make a quick turnaround
Pretty much, they know what game they are playing
Not Khabib but LHW/MW/WW -probably yes
@@A1v5p9 khabib never took a short notice fight or made a quick turnaround
@@scottc2076 He Did,but it was a long time ago,before the ufc,around 2010-2011 when he was young and also welterweight not lightweight,so you're absolutely right
Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't they doing it smartly? Khabib himself nowadays walks over 200 pounds and has gotten pretty chunky.
When the UFC Lightweight division started, the best were guys like Jens Pulver, Sean Sherk, BJ Penn, and Frankie Edgar. Nowadays, those guys would be tiny for the division and more suited for Bantamweight or Flyweight.
That’s such a great point
BJ was actually pretty big for the division. He fought at light heavyweight against Machida. Dude was a shapeshifter.
It's changed a lot since those days.
@@_GOD_HAND_ yeah that's because BJ Penn didn't want to cut weight. If you look at some guys in Bantamweight (Sandhagen, O'Malley, Vera, formerly Sterling, etc.) they have a much bigger frame then BJ. If they wanted to eat a lot of food then they could come into a fight weighing 190 just like BJ lol. My point is that guys cut wayyy more weight these days compared to back then. He may have been big for Lightweight back then. But today, if he was in Lightweight he would be small compared to Islam, Poirier, and Gaethje.
@@mamadude505 yes it's changed because guys cut way more weight than ever. Weight cutting is continuously getting more extreme.
Tom's jawline can cut glass Jesus Christ
On a serious note, really great video on a topic that has so much nuance. It's always crazy the amount of effort you put into these
God your so good looking too 💃
Gays are gay
@@MixedMartialAcademic just bang
Gays
Let me bang bro
Beneil Dariush looking like a COD zombie on the scales was probably the most sobering moment in recent memory. Genuinely thought that man was on the brink of death.
Great video as per as well. Wordplay that would make Shakespeare jealous
Yeah, also Emett looking like something straight out of a horror movie at UFC284 Weight in
Im so glad that you drew the comparison to eating disorders. I think ive teetered on the edge of an ED my whole adult life, and seeing the segment with TJ made me wonder "at whon point is this just an ED?"
Weight cutting is truly brutal and needs to stop
I don't know how you could stop it. Unless organizations measure the walking weight of fighters and their fight weight can't diverge from that by x amount of lbs. And to control people's weight fluctuations seems unnecessarily imposing on athlete lives.
Just bring back the old UFC rules where there was no weight classes.
@@CannibalOX99ah yes getting leg kicked by a guy twice you, how fair
@@user-lj5wy9hz2ydon’t even need to go that far, just add same day weigh ins, if your 10+ lbs heavier on fight night than you were at the official weigh-in you get a fine and forfeit the fight.
@@user-lj5wy9hz2ycould you weigh them as they walk into the ring instead of the day before?
I like this idea of same day weigh ins. Everyone wins, fighters have to fight at a reasonable weight cut which is essentially just their in shape weight, less tragedies, fighters can likely be more active and fans see fighters at peak performance. It’d take 6-18 months to figure out everyone’s new weight class but it’d be sorted out and we’d all forget about the current system in no time.
Same day takes away far too much focus from the fight. Fighters ONLY concern on fight day should be fighting. Period.
Just limit how much weight they can gain after initial weigh-ins. It’s much less stressful to make weight then limit how much you gain, than it is to have to be an exact weight just an hour before a fight.
I fight in a month and it’s all same day weigh ins, it’ll be interesting because it’s my first match where this is all happening so I will hang around and see if there’s any weight misses and whatnot mines heavyweight so I don’t have a concern
@@SnailHatan it wont take nothing away from the fight, their only concern should be to maintain their normal/everyday/training weight. Its better than the current format in everyway
people will still cut and attempt to rehydrate that day, many would go into the cage still dehydrated. Its good to give the fighters atleast 24 hours to recover after weightcuts
@@hms9891don’t forget to come back and tell us about it !
Conor Mcgregor looked like he stepped out of a concentration camp when he cut weight for Aldo
I’m not even that big of an MMA fan, but your videos are so informative and thoughtful that I can’t help but watch. Keep it up man. You’re doing important work.
I remember when Rumble couldn't make weight, so got cut, and came back as an amazing light heavyweight. I wish more fighters would think about this.
I’m working on rigs here in my shop , and I listen and just take my mind off work , while I hear you narrate these documentaries. The best part is that it’s free !!! Thanks man , I hope you are getting paid by RUclips , you work is excellent. You deserve more subscribers. I love the background music lol , techno ? I don’t know I just enjoy your documentaries , no bias, nothing political, nothing weird , straight to the point and factual!! Thanks again brother
145lb class for women would 100% make WMMA more interesting.
We don’t need a bunch of extra divisions tho, maybe one for men at 165. And one for women at 145.
That would allow the best and most violent female fighters to come in feeling good and get Kos
Nah. There are few good 135 women. The champ Raquel kinda sucks. 145 there’s nothing.
More weight divisions don’t stop cutting anyways
My only question would be why isn’t there a women’s 145 division?
What is the reason against it..
When I first started competing as an amateur kickboxer and MMA athlete, I knew virtually nothing about cutting weight, so I was extremely reliant on my training partners who had more experience than me. I cut 18 pounds in 72 hours, and felt like I was dying! Turns out, I really might have been. I have no wrestling background, so I had no frame of reference, and it was absolutely brutal. And by professional MMA fighters standards, 18 pounds is nothing. As I continued to train and compete, I got my "walking around" weight down to within 7 pounds of the weight class I'd be fighting in, just because I made changes to my diet and cardio regimen. Long story short: cutting weight sucks, and it's not worth whatever advantage it gives you, which I wish I knew when I was a young man hoping to be world champ someday. Spoiler alert: I retired after 4-3 record in amateur MMA and 6-3 as an amateur kickboxer, due to some scary post-concussion issues (another serious problem in combat sports), so "world championship fighter" was never in the cards for me.
Khabib VS Tony in his prime
Would’ve been such a great banger
I think Tony would have done the most damage to khabib ever by an opponent but still lose by submission
Khabib would have gotten his shit rocked, khabib had practically no striking game and tony was excellent at takedown defense. Khabib no fighting tony saved his legacy.
@@moonie1825 Tony was excellent at takedown defense? Based on what performance?
Yeah right bro.
Tony is the kind of guy who got the shit beat outta him by Gaethje, arm snapped by Charles, kicked into orbit around the sun by Chandler, choked out by Bobby AND Nate, wrestlefucked by Dariush, oh yeah and smacked around by Paddy.
And to think people actually thought he could beat Khabib. 😂 I digress.
@@1974Imperiumliterally all of those fights happened past the age of 36 how is that prime tony
@@moonie1825Khabib made Conor quit. Tony wasn’t the hero to avenge Conor’s humiliation. 😂
I think just adding more weight classes and not doing anything else is just going to allow some fighters to cut more to have an even bigger size advantage. If you want to stop weight cutting, you have to take away the advantage of weight cutting. Do cage side weigh-ins without the opportunity to put the weight back on. If fighters continue to dehydrate after that without getting an advantage then that is their own fault. As long as we give fighters the choice to not dehydrate without taking a competitive disadvantage, I don’t care about fighters choosing to dehydrate for NO advantage. We shouldn’t ask smart fighters to set themselves on fire to keep the dumb fighters warm.
Good point about more weight classes, I guess it just furthers my point that athletes are always going to try and break the system.
@@MixedMartialAcademicI think it is an example where the "system" then needs to adapt to address the loopholes being used by athletes - especially if it's harmful to them.
How u trying to fight for something nobody but yall want lmaoo none of you are competing in these fights but feel a need to tell someone else how to fight fair that's the problem yall think it matters what yall think 😂😂 yall soft so to yall it's omg he weighs 20 more pounds on fight night then this guy n alot them guys lose who are bigger so idk understand yall point make it safer for fighters who don't want that to find a more dangerous loop hole like what 😂😂😂 moronic
New fan! not much, but wanted to express my gratitude for your work , boss. Really good stuff
Amazing video! I've also heard people talking about how 'gangster' it is to make weight on short notice and thought the same, that it's crazy and irresponsible. Can you imagine the best Olympic athletes in 100m or a marathon or any other number of sports doing this to themselves and then trying to compete and be the best they could? Then you add the brain trauma... it's a crazy situation and needs to be stopped.
Another banger man. Some of the best journalistic MMA content out there keep it up.
Not watched this yet, but... Cyborg had doctors try to take blood during a weight cut and the blood was so thick it wouldn't even draw up into the needle properly. Can you *imagine* what having blood that thick is doing to the heart that's pumping it?
I really appreciate the efforts you put in to make these videos with well researched facts. Not to mention, the script is damn engaging.
Thanks so much mate I really appreciate it!
The scene with the projected image over the shoulder was a nice touch. No surprise to me the scenes are as well thought out as the scripts. Great video.
Thank you mate! Just trying different things!
The more I learned about MMA the more I dislike it. Every single one of these guys has CTE and nobody inside the management of the sport is doing anything to try and protect them. Dudes are literally killing themselves
This must have taken forever, great video, surprised you aren't more popular. Keep it up brother.
I appreciate it!
You do such amazing, vital work. It's a great thought-provoking piece. Thank you for this.
Thank you very much I appreciate it!
I am a fit short 18 year old girl and the fact some of these men want to weigh less than me is crazy, it really puts things into perspective..
It’s insane and it’s not fair to the people who actually fight at their natural weight. People who fight at light weight 155lbs walk around at light heavy weight (185lbs) 😊
Thank you for making a video about this. So many people pushing it too far, both pro and AM
My first kickboxing tournament I fought at 153 and I walked around at 175 6’2. That last 9 pounds was brutal. Could not sleep because I was overheated. And this was for no money. Weight cutting sucks ass.
Then why do it? I used to wrestle in highschool and hated cutting weight. I'd never imagine doing it again. I went blind twice from how dehydrated I'd get.
Sorry to sound like a dick, I’m an mma fighter and I have cut weight just so I can find fights so I’ve been there but only about 4 kilos
Why cut so much then ?
The focus shouldn't be on the hardships of weight cutting but rather on the reasons WHY you guys even do it in the first place smh all for an advantage? Just fight honestly at your honest weight division
Fighting at 153lbs at 6ft 2 is absurd.
@@MR12AMAZING 💀😂
I pray that weight cutting comes to an immediate halt. Fighters health is way more important. Period. Way too much is at stake.
Quality and commentary was great dude, keep it up!
Thank you mate appreciate it!
People like Joe Rogan that say cutting large amounts of weight is a bigger advantage than steroids have little to no perspective on how brutal weight cutting is. If you use steroids you don’t make yourself easier to knock out and the majority of negative effects on your body are long term not short and long term like weight cutting. Incredible video as always you always cover the less flashy but equally as important aspects of the sport.
Thanks for the comment! We could make content that stimulates the algo, but where is the fun in that brother, we want to get into the weeds!
None of the potential "benefits" outweigh the simple fact that weight cutting also reduces Cerebrospinal fluid in your brain... the fluid that both protects the brain from injury, impact and ensures proper neuron firing. It takes DAYS to weeks to fully recover diminished cerebrospinal fluid losses from dehydration.. not 24 hrs. This means every fighter that undergoes water dehydration to make weight is also reducing cerebrospinal fluid in their brain, meaning they are VASTLY more susceptible to knockouts because they no longer have adequate fluid in the brain to protect it and are also fighting at diminished mental capacity as their neurons cannot fire efficiently, which is what is used often to make split second decisions in combat in relation to gauging when to strike , dodge, block etc. Slow neurons = slow fighter.
As viewers, we are literally watching INFERIOR fighters if they weight cut. Their brains are more vulnerable and incapable of making ideal rapid decisions in combat to fight at their most efficient level. Not to even mention the fact that any doctor will tell you the BODY alone CANNOT recover from the damage done in just 24 hrs of rehydrating. It too can take days or weeks to fully recover. We are watching inferior fighters when they weight cut when gauged from a medical / physiological perspective.
@@Hathur if what all just like that than nobody would be doing weight cuts... It is a whole lot more individually variant how much this happens.
Dude. First off I have to say .. I hope this video blows up because you did an OUTSTANDING job on this man. Well done, and you got a new sub out of me!
I genuinely felt bad seeing Cyborg crying in that hot bath.
Thanks for the video. Good stuff. I started competing in kickboxing as a teenager, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a healthy relationship with my weight ever since. It’s been fifteen years and I still weigh myself every day to manage weight, because I’m still fighting.
The weird thing is that you can’t really stop as long as you’re active. I do a lot of BJJ now, and they often have ~10kg weight classes. You don’t wanna be on the wrong side of that limit.
Hi thanks for the documentation iam actually doing a Presentation for my a level exams in germany about commercalisation in the ufc and how it affects the fighters health your videos really helped thanks.
Glad i could provide any assitence on that, good luck with it! You'll smash it
Thank's man
I Just wanted to inform you that I did Smash IT I got Grade a for the Presentation thanks sir.
I have stumbled on your channel today and while I enjoy the serious topics in question, it is warming my heart the respect you are showing to amazing yet underappreciated athletes like DJ.
Another masterpiece. Thank you for blessing us with this brother 🙏
Thank you very much mate appreciate you!
Good on you for presenting a possible way to improve the situation. The more the fans are made aware of this the more they will push for changes. The sport is never going to make these changes as long as they money is flowing, they don't care until they start worrying the fans will turn on them.
When everyone is a weight bully at 155 who is doing the bullying?
It's an airheaded, meaningless term.
Ur not 155 if you have only 1 day you weight that@@MMAVoodoo
They’re all potential bullies to the one guy who doesn’t cut weight
No such thing, if you make weight then you make weight.
Your videos are amazing. You really highlighted some dark stuff here. Thank you for your stellar journalism.
Man if we could abolish weight cutting, ufc would be so much better. Same with fixed gloves. Hoping the new ones are good
Can you explain the new gloves please?
Wow this video is so well done, some of that footage was truely eye opening. Hearing about it vs seeing it has such a different impact.
To end the nonsense, they should weigh in as they walk into the cage to fight.
It's a good suggestion
I agree I would like this but the issue is there would also have to be anti-dehydration protocol. People know the dangers but will still cut weight to have an advantage. Even if they get no chance to rehydrate. They will still risk it for that perceived advantage
@@DaLeprechaun Two dehydrated rounds would be excrutiating. That would probably work itself out.
@@ElevatedAgenda you're right and I would hope it would. I am being a bit of a devils advocate. In the end I do just want the weight cutting problems to be resolved
People would suddenly be very surprised to see every division under 145 disappear. Along with a ton of fighters showing up at heavyweight.
Wow! This was very enlightening. It seems that we all (athlete or not) struggle with some of the same issues sad😢
Thank you for making this video! Its crazy that the best attribute that a fighter can have for mma isnt their strength, or power, or cardio, or fight iq, but the ability to cut 30 pounds of water without dying and then performing well the next day witbout being handicapped after dehydrating themselves like a prune. Weight cutting definitely ruins the sport because it turns it into a contest of whos the best weight cutter first, and whos the best fighter second.
The fact that soccer kicks and grounded knees, two techniques that have killed no one are illegal, yet weight cutting, which actually has killed fighters and sent them to the ER is allowed and encouraged is ridiculous!
The Academic has got to be one of one of the best sport doc narrators EVER! I always knew weigh cuts could be brutal, but had NO IDEA to that extreme extent!! SO GLAD I FOUND THIS CHANNEL!
The sign of a GREAT documentary is when it’s a subject you think you know a decent amount abt but at the end you realize you didn’t know shit!! 😂😂👏👏👏
If you have to cut more than 10 pounds, that weight class is not for you.
Most fighters try to abuse exploits in the weight cutting system, so that they can be huge and fight little guys.
The entire purpose of the weight class, is to keep the fighters at the same weight, so that it’s fair. It was never intended for people who are 30 pounds overweight weight, to dehydrate themselves, only to put it back on.
this is an absolute masterpiece of a video. very well explained and full of knowledge. thank you!
Thanks very much my friend I appreciate it!
Jesus Christ. What these fighters go through for weight cut is horrendous. UFC is just giving me more reasons to support and become even bigger fan of ONE Championship more and more.
They don’t do that out of touch, barbaric nonsense over there. And have a wider range of weight classes
Well documented and informative video lad. Thank you for bringing these things out to the light for fight fans who aren’t ware this stuff.
....not to burst your bubble, but check out some videos actually taking a look at ONEs weigh in policies. Luke Thomas has some good videos about it.
It’s not as good as it seems. They still have guys cutting weight, despite their “hydration testing”, plus ONE is not transparent with the actual details and info of the whole processes
Don’t get me wrong though, I enjoy ONE very much, they have a great mix of kickboxing and Muay Thai with 4oz gloves .
But they are just as suspect as any other promotion, when it comes to their practices
No they are not like other promotions. I'm sure they have fighters that screw the system. However, even if it's flawed, they are making a real effort to restrict and eliminate weight cutting. Even if they are not eliminating it outright, they are making a public effort to put a stop to it.
Ones weight in system is a bit of a joke. If it even happens, a hydration test is pretty easily fooled
I am glad you are giving this attention. Its insane and they need a new way of doing weigh ins.
I really can't believe they are going thru this 24hrs before getting into a MMA fight!? That's gotta be the WORST thing ever. Why can't we adjust the sport to keep different people near their normal "in shape" weight? There can still be the range of divisions but off set what those divisions are. No grown pro athlete male should ever way 125! I weighed that in the beginning of High school and I'm only 5'7".. *BTW I like the skateboard in the background. I grew up skateboarding since HS. Only stopped a few yrs ago at 31 when I ruptured my ACL and couldn't skate after the surgery
"No grown pro athlete male should ever weight 125 pounds"
125 pounds isn't an unhealthy weight for a shorter man. What's unhealthy is the practice of cutting excessive amounts of water and body fat from your body to make weight, only to gain that weight in the next 24 hours to fight at a much heavier weight.
@@mitchellheffernan3024there are very small fighters that truly shine at that weight class, look at Demetrius Johnson.
@@mitchellheffernan3024 Even the avg skinny high schooler is like 150lbs. 125lbs is extremely skinny for any adult male unless they're below 5ft 5.
@@MR12AMAZING hence "shorter man"
@@MR12AMAZINGwhere’d you get your data on the average weight of high school kids
EXCELLENT CONTENT EVERY FIGHTER SHOULD WATCH THIS
You can't dog the promotion...these guys have the choice to fight at their natural weight, but for some reason they don't.
Man this was extremely well done. Really opened my eyes to a whole other side of weight cutting. Props to Josh Barnett & others touting same day weigh-ins. It needs to be the norm.
I think it’s kind of disingenuous to paint these athletes as victims, like this whole process is voluntary and is for selfish desires. Like no one feels bad for David Goggins for all the shit he goes through because he chooses to do so, same for these guys. Painting it like they are takin advantage is just not the case.
I see your point for sure, but also consider that in order to have a fair as possible fight most athletes are forced to do massive cuts or they’ll just be victims themselves of weight bullies. It’s a vicious cycle. People who are naturally 155lbs or so, would be fighting people who weigh 185lbs naturally, so the 155lbs naturals cut to like 135lbs to avoid being a victim.
The whole thing is messed up and they need weigh ins 2hrs before the fight to stop this madness across the board
FANTASTIC video. Professionally produced. Excellent oration. Can’t say enough good stuff about this video. Keep ‘em coming. I am a new fan of your channel. Thank you.
What kind of advantage is it to appear heavier, when you are so weakened by weight cuts??
I think the effects are more so long term that short, there still are short term effects, but yeah the advantages outweigh the negative for the better part of a career it seems
Being bigger is a strong advantage when it comes to power but the weight cut fucks your cardio
This video is amazing man, very important message, this deserves much more vews. This is the biggest problem in fight sports and it's a topic that's not talked about enough. Weight plays a massive role and some people are naturally able to loose and gain massive ammounts, while others literaly risk their lives just to be able to compete. Weight classes exist for making fights fair, but how is it fair if someone is able to gain 15 pounds before the fight compared to the other guy who's genetics allow him to gain 45 ? There are people who's bodies can't handle it and something needs to be done, at least to reduce this risk.
Best idea I can think of to fix it is that they get on the scale on the night of the fight and need to weigh in at the limit for the class
I would love to see this cocept play out in a promotion, I honestly think it could work, but I hate to think of fighters trying to push that boundry. Hydration test and same day weigh in, and weight checks through out the year. But is that over the top?
@@MixedMartialAcademicit might be necessary for fairness and the safety of the fighters
Fighting with a dehydrated brain is way more dangerous
I've been getting my friend into MMA. He asked me about weight cutting and why fighters do it. This doc is perfect! Good timing for us. Thanks
Appreciate you Mark!
Unpopular opinion: Tj gets too much hate for testing positive, owned up to it and never did again as opposed to jones
Bro you are a great writer! This video encompasses exactly how I feel about weight cutting. Great video and channel 👊
He writes these scripts ?
love MMA hate MMA fans. Great video man.
A very meaningful MMA video. Thank you for another high-quality, highly informative video.
excellent video man! new subscriber here :)
Welcome aboard! Thanks for watching really appreciate it!
My god you just don’t ever miss. Such a beautiful and well made video mate!
Thank you so much mate, I appreciate you!
Hydration tests should be mandatory.
I agree, it’s a shame there are known ways around it
It is,but not in UFC,in ONE Championship
And the ‘known ways around it’ can be potentially more dangerous
@@christypan2556 One championship solved this issue. More weight classes and hydration tests.
Top documentary and take. Give this man his flowers!
You should have to make the weight you are fighting at 5 minutes before the fight, problem solved
You've definitely never fought.
This was a fkng fantastic way to approach this subject and was handled with class, totally new subscribers, myself and my husband ❤
My background is in Wrestling. In 1997 three NCAA wrestlers died cutting weight. After that the NCAA and later NFHS (high school) put in weight management programs that limit how much they can cut per week. Its not perfect, but its better than the old days of wrestling. Does UFC and other MMA promotions have any weight management programs? EDIT Should have finished the video before commenting, good stuff glad I found this channel
Ryan Garcia beat Haney, The ref, The Judges, The fans AND Weight cutting 👑💯
ahaha Ryan is so funny
Amazing documentary sir. I had no idea how horrible weight cutting is for the fighters health and life.
EVERYONE SHUP UP NEW MIXED MARTIAL ACADEMIC DROPPED
Hope you enjoy it mate!
My man! Another banger, adding amazing value.
Great video
Thank you very much I really appreciate that mate!
Great video. I found myself agreeing a lot, you were speaking my thoughts as I was having them!
Weight cutting isn't killing MMA, either as a sport or a business. It's bad for the participants, which is another matter.
It is tho.
It's not concern trolling its a fleshed out point of view that many people agree with, Drama added to a video isn't view chasing it's storytelling. Don't conflate the two. If I wanted to view chase I'd make documentries on fighters every video bub.
Appeal to authority, concern trolling, hyperbolic (what ever that actually means); brother you are just saying things other people have said. None of those things happened in this video you melt.
Great, great video. Keep up the great work. God bless.
Make weigh-in on fight day. Problem solved, I would think.
I'd love to see that play out for sure!
Horrible idea.
I cut from 150 to 125 in high school for wrestling... I collapsed and passed out during training. When the medical staff finally got the 6 pairs of sweats off, they realized I was wearing plastic pants.... got suspended... probably saved my life... we had to make weight weekly... I was told that my 125 lb spot was taken... so I had to step up to 135 lb ... never won another match.... I was not a good wrestler and I gave it my all, these professionals have been progressively doing this weight cut thing since middle school... thank you for helping to bring light to this. I don't ever see it stopping, it's a necessary evil, but hopefully at some point children are allowed to be children and grow, and as adults make the decision to cut weight ...
The fix for drastic weightcutting is a weigh in shortly (e.g. 2 hours) before competition. That still allows an athlete to cut 3-4kg if they need to, but beyond that and you cannot rehydrate fast enough to be in shape. There is absolutely no reason not to do this.
Because fighters will still dehydrate themselves for the competitive advantage. Would be even more dangerous than having cuts as a result.
It’s why boxing made the shift cuz too many people in lower classes were dying.
A more substantial version of one champs solution is a good avenue to pursue
If you can't see the multiple reasons not to do this, you're not thinking clearly
@@MMAVoodoo well, there's the drawback that with shorter weigh ins, missing weight is more likely and happens on a short notice. But this already happens - so the fighters and their teams will just have cut less weight.
Then there's the drawback of a fighter actually attempting the same weight cut they did before. But that's actually no longer an advantage, because they'd be fucked in the fight.
So, go on, what am I missing?
@@IsleyNumber1 cutting weight still provides a competitive advantage. Fighters would just choose to enter the ring dehydrated, which can have fatal effects on the brain.
Boxing did have same day weigh ins, people in lower weight classes kept dying, hence they moved them to the day before.
Having a guy rehydrate 15+ pounds is quaint by comparison
@@RD-wg9em Ahh yes, the well known advantage of coming so dehydrated you might die from being hit
Truly, something must be done to stop boxers from ekeing out that advantage
Well done, Mate. Very well done VidDoc. 👏🏽🙌🏽
Thank you kindly
i dont get it man...its mental regardation...why dont they fight at their natural weight classes, viz a viz, tj at lightweight, islam at welterweight and so on but rather whine about weight cutting, like bro either fight at your natural weight class or just retire smh
Because people would still cut, claim it’s their “natural weight” and then rehydrate and come in even larger.
@@zim-zf7mq if they can...then more power to them but clearly fighters like tj shouldn't drain to featherweight but to lightweight , islam to welterweight and so on
Hugh Respect to you bro.
For your love of sport.❤.
Love and support from Himalay (India)