Beyond sporting performance, UFC 311 highlighted a controversial practice: cutting.
Between the official weigh-in and the day of the fight, some athletes gain back around ten kilos. Thus, they drastically change their weight and physical appearance. Additionally, the time between weigh-in and fight time is usually between 24 and 36 hours. Indeed, the cuttingor extreme weight loss, is a common practice in combat sports. Athletes dehydrate their bodies intensely in order to meet the weight limits imposed by their category. This weight loss is sometimes achieved in just a few days.
They use a variety of techniques, from prolonged sessions in saunas to stopping water consumption. The objective is to benefit from a physical advantage by having a more imposing body shape and superior strength over their opponents. This can have dangerous consequences, William Gomis, a French fighter, experienced this.
Spectacular gains after cutting
The California Athletic Commission has released the numbers for UFC 311 (see all results). Indeed, the figures are impressive. Renato Moicano, initially weighed at 70.3 kg (155 pounds), impressed with his weight of 82.4 kg (181.8 pounds) on the night of his fight. An overall gain of 12.1 kg (26.8 pounds). This transformation led him to surpass the weight of his opponent, champion Islam Makhachev, who went from 70.3 kg to 80.7 kg (178 pounds). On the same evening, other fighters showed similar developments: Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili gained 10.3 kg (22.8 pounds), and Umar Nurmagomedov also gained 9.9 kg (21.8 books).
-The most striking case remains that of Reinier de Ridder, who exploded the statistics by going from 83.6 kg (184.5 pounds) to 96.2 kg (212 pounds), a jump of 12.6 kg (27. 5 pounds). In contrast, fighters like Kevin Holland or Jiri Prochazka recorded much more modest gains, 3.1 kg (6.9 pounds) and 1.7 kg (3.7 pounds) respectively, showing varied approaches to the cutting.
Regulation to protect fighters
The California Athletic Commission attempts to limit these extreme variations by monitoring weight gains. Fighters who regain more than 10% of their weight are flagged, with a possible suggestion to move up to a higher category. During UFC 311, no less than 15 athletes crossed this threshold. This regulation aims to preserve their health and guarantee fairness in confrontations, but the debate on the risks linked to cutting remains open. Thus, behind each fight lies a meticulous strategy where the numbers on the scale weigh as much as the blows delivered in the octagon.
Should the practice of cutting be more regulated to avoid such significant differences in weight?
