Making Weight, who's responsible?

Post date: 05-Dec-2013 22:52:54

• Been asked to do a blog for the site so I thought I would give a bit of my background first. I'm a BJJ Brown Belt out of Gracie Barra Ayrshire under Marcos Nardini. I compete regularly in both GI and NoGi competitions and am also a partner, promoter and matchmaker for the MMA promotion SFC, run the Scottish BJJ Nationals grappling comps, I'm a MMA and BJJ referee as well as run the Lycans MMA team and am a former pro MMA fighter. Juggling all this with working a full time job and having a young family can be pretty demanding. The blog will cover all things I find interesting in the world of BJJ and MMA, what I'm currently working on and what's currently pissing me off.
• Making Weight, who's responsible?
• This has came to the fore once again due to a terrible death of an athlete in Brazil and the latest TUF. Making weight for MMA has long been the most dreaded part of a fight camp for most pro fighters. I for example fought at 61.2kgs and usually walked about between 73 and 77kgs. I always dieted to around 70kgs a week out and cut the rest. Walking into the cage around 71kgs. Did it affect my performance? Yes definitely. I never really fought well when I had to make the BW limit. I had much more success when I managed to get matched around 63kgs. I just felt much less drained and so much stronger. Could I have fought at FW? Yes I suppose, I might have done ok to a point but having sparred with several of Europe's top FWs it was pretty obvious to me that I wasn't big enough. I think I'm a reasonably smart for an educated guy but sometimes I put myself in some pretty dangerous and stupid positions cutting weight. I regularly sauna'd alone, tried to sauna off 10kgs in 1 day twice. (I made it once. And failed once.) Whilst salt bathing in Japan on my own. I came out the bath. Put on my sweat suit and the next thing I remember was waking up 4 hrs later on the floor. So what did I do? Weighed myself and jumped straight back in the bath. (Still had more to do) madness ! The guys on TUF were complaining about the continual weight cuts. I can understand them being drained with this and affecting their performance but the not making weight is a bullshit excuse IMO. I made weight twice within 2 weeks on 2 occasions and the 2nd time was always much easier. You just had to keep your diet up straight after the fight. Was I the only person who watched those 2 idiots on Tuff eating burgers and shit! Drinking coconut water between salt baths! WTF. And they were shocked that they couldn't get it off? Their loss I suppose.
• People will always cut weight. Everyone wants an edge. For me this now comes down to two people, the promoters knowing what division their booked fighters usually fight in and the coaches educating their students. If they don't know how then they should get someone in who does if they are going to have guys fighting for them. As a promoter I decided I would have amateurs weigh in day before with the pros. Some people don't like this as they think amateurs shouldn't be cutting. I agree, but the fact is, they are going to do it anyway, without a doubt.
• So I don't want a dangerously dehydrated kid fighting on my show after cutting weight for a weigh in a couple of hours before he's getting punched and kicked in the head. That's just mental. But I know plenty who have done it. (Including myself).
• If coaches educate and monitor their young fighters weight and have them fighting in a realistic division. They will learn what they can and can't do whilst not under too much pressure and the world will be a better place.
• Peace x

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