How to Fix Fighters Missing Weight in the UFC

Abraham Smith

Friday’s fight week weigh-in made headlines for the second straight week. Last week at the UFC 279 weigh-in we had a slaughter due to weight issues. The main event, co-main event and the third fight on the main map were all changed, two fighters missed weight and one fight weight was changed before weigh-in due to one fighter being unable to reach weight.

Same thing happened this week like Aspen Ladda woman notorious for struggling with her weight missed the weight again, coming in at two pounds over the non-title bantamweight limit.

Previously, Ladd was missing weight at Invicta FC and in her third UFC fight, resulting in the fight being canceled. In her first main event, she hit the bantamweight limit of 136lbs, but had a visible horrible weight loss. Stepping on the scale, she was shaking, wincing, and in obvious pain. The commission gave her permission to fight, but she lost the fight in just 16 seconds, raising questions about how much the weight reduction affected her impact resistance. It was later revealed that between the weigh-in and fight night she had gained 18% of her weight (weighing 159 pounds) and as a result her license was suspended. The California State Athletic Commission has a rule that fighters cannot win more than 10% of their fight week between weigh-ins and fights.

Another weight error came when Ladd was about to confront Macy Chiasson. Ladd weighed 137 pounds and was withdrawn from the fight for medical reasons. She briefly rose to featherweight to pick it up Norma Dumonthowever, after losing convincingly, she wanted to try bantamweight again, but as we know, that didn’t go to plan.

Lately we’ve seen Paul Costa admitting (during fight week) that he would not be able to reach the middleweight limit if he was scheduled Marvin Vettoricausing the fight to be moved one weight class to light heavyweight during fight week. William Knight broke the record for the greatest weight loss in UFC history when he lost 12 pounds in February. Last December we saw Justin Tafa missed the heavyweight mark of 266 pounds, something we had never seen before. These issues have all occurred in the last 12 months, so something needs to be done.

What is happening at the moment?

As it stands, fighters often have an extra hour to try to hit the weight if they miss on the first try. The hour is usually enough to shed an extra pound or two, but sometimes the fighter fails on the second try.

If they fail to gain weight, they are penalized with a percentage of their wallet. The commission decides the amount of the fine for the fighter and it is either 20% or 30% depending on how much they missed. They are then also not eligible for a post-fight bonus, regardless of their performance.

This all assumes that their opponent will accept a catchweight fight, which we know isn’t always the case.

How to fix misweights

The lack of weight of fighters is a big problem. This leads to the integrity of the weight classes being questioned (if Costa had hit Vettori at 205lbs, how would that affect his middleweight ranking?), danger to the opponent, as well as potential carnage (like we did with UFC 279 have seen) for an entire map .

If a heavier fighter is penalized more severely for missing weight, we will see less heavy fighters. Although underweight fighters suffer the consequences, these fines do not currently affect them in the fight itself.

There needs to be a change in how fighters are penalized for missing weight and here is what we are proposing:

1st time missing weight –

Keep the current system of fining a fighter 20% or 30% depending on the severity of the off-weight. Still ineligible for post-fight bonuses and enforcement of a drinking clause (fighters must not weigh more than 5% of their weigh-in weight on fight night)

2nd time missing weight –

Fine 50% of bout money, re-enforce strict drinking clause and start bout with one point down (fighters can only gain nine points from the first round regardless of whether they win the round)

3rd time and each subsequent time –

Fined 50% of the bout money, enforced a strict drinking clause, and started the bout two points down (fighters can only gain nine points in the first two rounds, regardless of whether they win the round)

Additional measures –

Any weight error of 5 pounds or more will force the fighter to fight in the above weight category in their next bout. Misses of 7.5 pounds or more will stop the fight, regardless of whether the opponent accepts the fight or not.

With rules as strict as these, both monetary and potentially career-changing and fight-changing consequences, there’s a much higher chance fighters will place more emphasis on their diet and weight loss process.

The UFC should also implement strict fluid testing in the two months leading up to fight week. Eight weeks before fight night, fighters should be within 20% of their fight weight. At the start of fight week, fighters should be no more than 7.5% over their fight weight. For example, Aspen Ladd would need to weigh 142.8 pounds on Monday of fight week. This would mean that she would gradually reduce the weight to the 136-pound mark during fight week, meaning it would be much safer for her and more likely to make the weight at Friday’s weigh-in.

And while we’re debating that, it’s time we got rid of the historical scales used in the UFC today. Use analog scales to eliminate human error, especially with potentially tighter missing weight rules…



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