Why are weigh ins done over a day before the fight and not immediately before?
This allows fighters to dehydrate themselves to absurdity, putting their bodies at risk, in order to make a certain weight, then show up the next day 20 pounds heavier for the actual fight. This can’t be good for their fight day performance, not to mention making a mockery of the weight class system as some fighters may just be able to dehydrate more than others. Finally it is just dangerous, fighters have died trying to make weight?
Why not weigh the fighter right before they step into the ring? That way you get their actual fighting weight. You can play with the weight class cut offs to try to add more historical accuracy. Does anyone have a good explanation for why things are done as they are?
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A person only has around 15 pounds of water weight. If you were that close to the cutoff point your placement is largely arbitrary anyway and you’ve harmed yourself and your ring performance for most likely very little or no benefit. Presumably they see no need to take efforts to combat something that only a fool hurting their own performance would likely do.
*edit to get ahead of the “uhm actuallies”*
“Water weight” =/= “amount of your bodies weight that is composed of water”. It’s a weight loss and fitness related term.
The thought is if you weigh on the day of, they’re gonna dehydrate themselves anyway and fight in that extremely weakened condition.
If the weigh in happened right before a fight then some number of fighters will still show up dehydrated to make the weight and then won’t have any chance to rehydrate. This will put them at an even higher risk of injury
Are you volunteering to tell the paying crowd to go home? You’re a braver man than I am.
It used to be done the day of the fight, but then fighters were entering the ring dehydrated. The health risks were actually even greater. A prominent in-ring death led to the decision to give them a day to rehydrate and recover on the assumption that if they’re going to abuse the weigh-in system either way, we should do the most possible to protect fighter health.
People have been pushing for athletic commissions to do same day weigh-ins, hydration testing, and more weight classes (for mma) for years.
It’s basically legal cheating.
I can’t get into the why it’s done when it is. However, by having the weigh in the day before, it allows for basically a pre-fight point to check in and show up for cameras. It also allows for contract negotiations if a fighter is overweight.
But the way it is, everyone is basically fighting at the same weight anyway, it’s just the weight is ~15% over the listed weight of the weight class.
So if you made the change you suggest, all of the weight classes would just shift up by that amount, and the same fighters would be in them. Plus there would still be cutting weight in some, only now it’s the day of the fight making all of the dangers that aren’t really dangers that you mentioned above into true dangers.
Answer: not the only answer but water weight is easy to lose and gain where fat and muscle are not. And if all persons involved both lose and gain water weight it more or less equals out. Also when fighting it’s not good to be full of water and or food. Strenuous activity when full can make one sick.
If you weigh the fighters before they fight we’re gonna miss a lot of fights.
Fights are about the show, not about seeing who is the best at fighting. If you have a weigh in right before the fight, maybe one of them fails and then you have a crowd all waiting for a show that is cancelled right there in the building. So they do it a few days before, use that to build hype for the show and to let anyone who fails a chance to come in under and then you don’t have to refund tickets and bets.
Everything you’re wondering is absolutely true, and nobody in the business isn’t aware.
Yes it IS healthier for the fighter to have a time to rehydrate and normalize. Yes it IS a mockery of the weight class system.
Cutting weight is how fighters like Connor McGregor became double champions. Take a look at his physique during different matches. One of his real talents beyond technical fighting is conditioning.
All that said there is ONE and only one reason why organizations will never do same day weigh ins. That is because everyone would fail to make weight and there wouldn’t be these nice and easily defined weight classes. Without these weight classes the gaming commissions wouldn’t sanction combat sports.
The weight system is what makes these things sport and not backyard cock-fighting.
That’s my take at least.
>putting their bodies at risk
You know, they make their living by getting repeated TBIs, I don’t think dehydration is gonna rank that high on their priority list…
If you don’t do it, your opponent will… that’s the only reason. I think people would rather not have to go through it, it can be mentally horrible too.
Weigh ins in boxing were held day-of until starting in 1980s.
The argument given by promotions when they moved it back was that it was about fighter safety. That is known to be even more true today – if you are significantly dehydrated, there is less protective fluid in your brain and getting hit will do more damage and the risk of brain damage in a fight is much better understood.
That I already knew, but apparently there was also a string of cancelled fights in the 80s due to weigh ins that may have affected this as well. It gives time for a fighter to change their mind about exercising their right to pull out, time to schedule a replacement fighter and time to let the betting markets shake out.
When you rehydrate after dehydration, the cerebrospinal fluid that protects your brain is the last to recover meaning that there is a point where your body can move without risk of cramping and your blood flow is back to normal meaning you can fight effectively but your brain is still in a vulnerable state to concussions.
You are right that extreme weight cutting is dangerous to a fighter’s health but it’s no where near as dangerous as letting a dehydrated fighter fight.
The obvious solution is to weigh fighters daily for a week before the fight. I don’t think fighters want that and I don’t think promotions care enough about fighter health to make a big deal of it. It would need to be sanctioning bodies deciding to require that.
That’s all good but why not change the weighting system?? Why not make them weigh weekly for months to make cutting weight not sustainable?
Gambling. You need their stats to make predictions on the outcome. Too early gives too much room to change those stats. Too late and there isn’t enough time to place bets.
Imagine paying all the money, turning up to the arena, and then the main event is cancelled because one of them doesn’t make weight…
As it stands there’s times to find a last minute replacement or some other solution
Also, what if one of the fighters doesn’t make weight right before the fight? Just cancel the bout, leaving thousands of spectators hanging? Not good business.
Dunno if it is a relevant reason but one disadvantage is that if they actually failed it directly before you have to send your guests back home. Of course it isn’t expected that people fail (or maybe it is I don’t regularly watch) and it would still be bad a day before but not quite as bad.
The obvious answer is that if a fighter missed weight, the fight couldn’t go on, and thus it stiffs people with tickets and who paid for the PPV.
I’m a big supporter of same day weigh ins.
Every weight class will have fighter who truly belong there, and when the fighter step into the ring they are fully hydrated (including their brain) and healthy.
God, I remember back in my wrestling days specifically in Jr High. I was going through puberty and wrestling in the 100 lbs weight class. Got nose bleeds from malnutrition. Would run in a sauna with sweatsuit on and trash bags on top to sweat as much as possible, while chewing big red gum so I could spit. Was the team captain, so I had to make weight. How I won matches, I don’t know, because I had no energy.
This is why professional weigh ins happen before the actual match.
The rules depend on what division / federation you are fighting in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weight_class_(boxing)#Weigh-in
Yes, a fighter can dehydrate to make the weight limit. But, depending on the rules.. it isn’t going to matter that much.
As the body can only withstand 1-3% before being negatively affected by it.
The IBF requires a “morning of” weight check. If that is more then 10 lbs over the fight weight limit.. rules apply. Sanctions, title not being on the line. Fight called off.