CSAC recommends Kunitskaya move up, dream comes true
Death occurs at a loss of between 15 and 25% of body water. Yana Kunitskaya lost 13.5%.
The end of the culture of extreme weight cutting in mixed martial arts has begun. That’s good, because fighters are being injured by it on a constant basis. However, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. There have been intermittent cases of fighters being nudged up a division, and they are not always happy about it.
The reflexive response from some fighters is that they want to edge into injurious levels of dehydration just a day before engaging in the most intense physical exertion imaginable. However, that may not lead to peak performance. How could it?
While research is underway, there is emerging anecdotal evidence that moving up a division is good for a fighter. Anthony Johnson was a terrific fighter at 170, but at 205 he was far better. A more recent case is Russian Yana Kunitskaya.
She beat Raquel Pa’aluhi in the main event of Invicta FC 25 for the promotion’s vacant bantamweight champion. Kunitskaya weighed in at 134.5, while Pa’aluhi was 133.8. The bout was held in Lemoore, California and was regulated by California State Athletic Commission. CSAC executive director Andy Foster has taken the lead in combatting deadly weight cutting, and one of the steps he takes is fight day weigh-ins. If a fighter is 10% above their weight class in a fight day check, then the recommendation is made to move up a division.
Pa’aluhi weighed 140.3 on fight day, or 3.9% over the division limit. By contrast, Kunitskaya entered the cage at 154.6, or 14.4% over the bantamweight limit. That’s not one division up, it’s two. It was a lightweight fighting at bantamweight. Death occurs at a loss of between 15 and 25% of body water. Kunitskaya lost 13.5%.
Foster recommended the Russian move up a division. Some fighters would regard this as damaging to their career. However, moving to featherweight has made Kunitskaya’s dream come true – she’s fighting for the UFC title in the main event of UFC 222 on March 3, 2018. The evidence thus far is anecdotal, but it’s mounting – extreme weight cutting isn’t just bad for you it, it doesn’t work.