HBO’s ‘Real Sports’ takes a deeper look at the dangers of weight cutting in MMA feat. Uriah Hall (video)

[Primetyme199]

https://www.mmamania.com/2020/9/15/2143 ... or-one-mma



If you ask most mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters they will be quick to tell you that the actual fighting part of the sport is sometimes the easiest, as lengthy training camps leading up to a fight is the most brutal part if it all.

Of course, that portion of the MMA game is accompanied by weight cutting, the grueling ritual nearly every fighter not competing in the Heavyweight division has to go through in order to be able to compete on fight night.

ONE Championship has done away with the practice and despite some overhauling of procedures by some athletic commissions and United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA), there are still several fighters doing everything they can in order to lose a lot of weight in a hurry safely every week.

While in some cases weight cuts help bigger fighters gain a size and strength advantage on the day of the fight, as we have seen multiple times it can lead to severe health complications and in rare occassions death.

Now, HBO’s award-winning “Real Sports” will take a deeper look at the dangers of weight cutting in MMA in an episode set to air on Tuesday, September 22 at 10 P.M. ET on HBO and HBO Max.

The event will feature several notable fighters giving their firsthand account with weight cutting, including Uriah Hall who had a very scary incident in 2018 which caused him to collapse and go into a seizure.

[TheSickness316]

Definitely going to watch that

[Primetyme199]

Me too, as long* as I remember when it’s on, lol

[the13r]

once it's on, i can find it online. Or heads up the day it's aired and i might be able to cap it for TTR

[TheSickness316]

Me too, as long* as I remember when it’s on, lol

Thankfully it is on at a time and day where there isn't a show I definitely watch at that time. But yeah, just got to remember. Thankfully I have HBO max so I can watch it on there if I can't watch it on regular HBO.

[gilgamesh]

What do they mean by One Championship has done away with the practice?

[kewlmodee]

once it's on, i can find it online. Or heads up the day it's aired and i might be able to cap it for TTR

Thanks Astor!

[Primetyme199]

I just set my DVR to record it in case I forget it's on.

[Primetyme199]

What do they mean by One Championship has done away with the practice?

This is the policy at One:

1. Athletes must submit their current walking weight and daily training weight regularly. Athletes will input and track their daily weight online via a dedicated web portal. Athletes may input data weekly but must include daily weights.

2. Athletes will be assigned to their weight class based on collated data and random weight checks. Athletes are not allowed to drop a weight class when less than 8 weeks out from an event.

3. During fight week, weights are checked daily. Urine specific gravity will also be checked the day after arrival and 3 hours prior to the event. Athletes must be within their weight class and pass specific gravity hydration tests all week and up to 3 hours before the event. If an athlete falls outside the weight, or fails a test, they are disqualified from the event. Doctors may request additional testing at their discretion.

4. Catch weight bouts are allowed. However, the athlete with the higher weight will not be heavier than 105% of the lighter opponent’s weight.

5. ONE will conduct random weight checks on athletes at our discretion.

6. Athletes may petition to change weight classes outside of the 8-week competition zone and must be within their new desired weight at that time. In addition, athletes must pass a specific gravity urine test when their weight is within the limits of the newly petitioned weight class. ONE doctors can request additional testing to determine the amount of weight drop allowed over a specific time.

7. The usage of IVs for the purpose of rehydration will not be allowed.



Overage and limits of weight reduction:

· 3 weeks to event day: Athlete must be within contracted weight class

· 4 weeks: 1.5% bodyweight over max

· 5 weeks: 3%

· 6 weeks: 4.5%

· 7 weeks: 6%

· 8 weeks: +6% max over.

(ONE Chief Doctor may approve up to +/- 0.5% maximum error in any weekly weight check)







So just as an example if the fighter is going to fight at 170lbs, 7 weeks out from the fight he can't weigh more then 180.2. 6 weeks they must be 177.65 or under, 5 weeks would be 175.1, 4 weeks would be 172.55, 3 weeks till the fight must be 170 or under.

[gilgamesh]

Catch weight bouts are allowed but the opponent can't weigh more than 105% than his opponent?

So a 260 pound guy can fight a 130 pound guy? lol. Because that'd only be 100%

[Primetyme199]

Catch weight bouts are allowed but the opponent can't weigh more than 105% than his opponent?

So a 260 pound guy can fight a 130 pound guy? lol. Because that'd only be 100%

The way they wrote it is bad, basically whatever weight the lighter fighter weighs is considered 100%. So the other fighter would only be able to weigh 5% more then him. It still leaves a big weight gap. One guy could weigh in at the 170lb limit and the other could possibly weigh up to 178.5.

[TheSickness316]

Did you watch it?

[the13r]

oh shit okay ill grab it from the west feed i guess

[Primetyme199]

No, I forgot it was on but I saw it on my DVR, I'll be watching it today when I get home.

[Primetyme199]

I watched it yesterday and was immediately put off by their bias and dislike of MMA from the opening statement of the show.

They followed Ramsey Nijem while he was in the PFL and said he would be lucky to break even with his fighter pay. He was making 25-50k a fight for them. He missed one fight because of his weight issues and was also suspended for testing positive, marijuana I believe.

He's 10-8 fighter, not even a journeyman, not sure what they expect someone that isn't that good to make per fight. He's lucky to still have been fighting for the PFL, 9 out of 10 times fighters like him are fighting in regional promotions making anywhere from $500-$2,000 a fight.

What would a 10-8 boxer be making that has no name recognition and not very good?

He fought in the UFC ten times and was 5-5, he made $275,200 in his time there. Broken down it's about $69,000 per year.

I wish they would have covered more fighters and shown some more in depth things with them. They should have interviewed a lot of fights and asked them why they try and cut the weight they do instead of fighting closer to their normal weight and questions like that.

[TheSickness316]

I watched it yesterday and was immediately put off by their bias and dislike of MMA from the opening statement of the show.

They followed Ramsey Nijem while he was in the PFL and said he would be lucky to break even with his fighter pay. He was making 25-50k a fight for them. He missed one fight because of his weight issues and was also suspended for testing positive, marijuana I believe.

He's 10-8 fighter, not even a journeyman, not sure what they expect someone that isn't that good to make per fight. He's lucky to still have been fighting for the PFL, 9 out of 10 times fighters like him are fighting in regional promotions making anywhere from $500-$2,000 a fight.

What would a 10-8 boxer be making that has no name recognition and not very good?

He fought in the UFC ten times and was 5-5, he made $275,200 in his time there. Broken down it's about $69,000 per year.

I wish they would have covered more fighters and shown some more in depth things with them. They should have interviewed a lot of fights and asked them why they try and cut the weight they do instead of fighting closer to their normal weight and questions like that.

It felt very biased. And it's not like they said things that we didn't really know. And if you have to lose as much weight as he did in that short time span, you could easily suspect that he didn't properly cut weight.

And did it seem like they were trying to make for MMA to have more weight classes?

[Primetyme199]

Oh yes.