As the sport of mixed martial arts continues to evolve, regulators are beginning to take the next step in fighter safety, which could see the addition of same-day weigh-ins and body testing that could place existing fighters into different weight classes.
“What we have right now is not working” stated Andy Foster, the Executive Director of The California State Athletic Commission, during last week’s edition of UFC Central Radio. Full interview
“What really got me into a panic, so to speak, was after the UFC (177) here in Sacramento, the day of the weigh-in. We have two of our fighters unable to weigh in, or licensees, because they’ve lost too much weight.”
Foster was referring to (then flyweight) Henry Cejudo and former UFC Bantamweight Champion Renan Barao, who was set to take on T.J. Dillashaw.
Both Cejudo and Barao were unable to make weight, with the latter allegedly fainting and banging his head on the edge of a bath tub.
It was apparently another example of dehydration gone wrong, a major issue in the world of weight cutting.
“I think that’s a problem. That’s want kind of stirred me to start taking action,” added Foster, who is now leading the charge for a change in procedures.
He has reached out to some of his peers, notably Greg Sirb of Pennsylvania and David Berlin of New York. This week, he will be discussing the proposed changes with The Association of Ringside Physicians (A.R.P).
“The A.R.P. is certainly on board with doing something. They issued their statement last year about weigh-ins,” continued Foster, who also stated these changes will affect the boxing world and has reached out to Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the W.B.C. (World Boxing Council).
The proposed changes could be adaptations from existing procedures being used in amateur wrestling.
They would include a Hydrastatic tests, along with caliper measurements of a fighters back, near the shoulder blades, the stomach and the back of the arm, in an effort to determine an athletes body fat composition.
Hydrastatic testing specifies the gravity in a fighter’s urine, determining just how well an athlete is hydrated. This is to be done before a fighter is licensed, long before a scheduled bout and in conjunction with the caliper test, which will then determine what his/her minimum competition weight will be.
Foster will be recommending that once “we establish the lowest weight…that lowest weight be placed on the fighters permanent record both with the A.B.C. (Association of Boxing Commissions) database and the Fight Fax database.”
In turn, this could see existing athletes, including champions, forced to change weight classes based on their “minimum weight”.
This information will be paramount so that commissions can sanction match-ups accordingly, preventing athletes from signing and competing in a weight class that is deemed too low for their well being.
“When a commission pulls the Fight Fax and looks up a record, we can see right here and we can make sure they are not contracted for less than that amount of weight.”
Foster will also be making the case for what the wrestling community is doing today: two separate weigh-ins.
The first, is the one we’ve all been accustomed to, the day before the event. But the second will be the addition of a “same-day weigh-in”.
The goal is to ensure “the fighter doesn’t gain more than seven percent (12 percent for women), over that period, to avoid over hydration.”
The battle vs dehydration and the advancements in techniques pertaining to rehydration have been going on for a very long time, but now, studies are proving that the proposed changes may come quicker than we think.
Big John McCarthy, also joined UFC Central Radio and stated “as a regulator, we have got to look at what is best for the fighters, because we have learned a lot over time about what dehydration does, as far as traumatic brain injury. Full interview
“The brain is made of water…the dura that covers the brain, as well as the stretching of blood vessels, based upon the shrinking due to dehydration, when they try and rehydrate, the cell structure does not come back into the same form that it was, unless given time.”
Today, that time has generally been just over 24 hours for competing athletes. Unfortunately, it appears they may have been wrong all along, barely avoiding some dangerous consequences in the short term, but perhaps not so much in the long term.
According to McCarthy and based on the studies the regulators have reviewed, “that time is usually a two to five day period, depending just on how the person’s body works.”
So with the call to action to reduce concussions and the incidences of traumatic brain injury, there is a clear mandate of continuing to make the sport as safe as possible. It appear obvious that these changes could be pushed through sooner rather than later.
But not everyone reacts to change in the same way.
The promoters may have issues with this, as it may shuffle their rosters, maybe even their champions. Some of the athletes, as proud as they are, may not be happy at all. Even the fans may voice their displeasure but the regulators are fully aware that this all part of the process, growing pains if you will.
Foster maintains “I don’t think there’s a promoter out there that wants fighters to be unsafe.”
McCarthy mentions that “the fighters aren’t gonna like it, but they’ll get used to it. And they’ll end up getting themselves into the weight classes where they belong, and it will be a healthier, safer fighter going in, and that’s what’s important.”
On a personal note, I asked if these proposed changes could also be implemented in Amateur MMA and Amateur Boxing?
As per Foster, “That’s the first time I’ve actually thought of that question.”
But it did not take long for him to address it accordingly.
“Whatever is recommended for professionals, the amateurs are even safer than that. So, absolutely. If we recommended something the amateurs would have to comply with that, or safer.”