White wants UFC to return to late weigh-ins

The human brain rests in a cocoon of water. When the body is dehydrated, there is less fluid, and the risk of concussion increases. Thus mixed martial arts has traditionally held weigh-ins the day before the event, typically at 4:00 p.m. local time, providing over 24 hours to rehydrate. However, the culture of extreme weight cutting in the sport is such that even 24 hours wasn’t enough to rehydrate through the regular intake of fluids, so fighters very often got a nurse or EMT to provide an IV to rehydrate.

Then the UFC secured USADA to do random, comprehensive, out of competition testing. Because an IV can be used to mask the use of performance-enhancing drugs, they are banned by USADA.

In response, in cooperation with athletic commissions, weigh-ins were moved to the morning, typically from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. local time, providing fighters more time to rehydrate. It worked initially, but over time, an increasing number of fighters missed the early weigh-ins. The old afternoon continued on a ceremonial basis, for the fans.

UFC President Dana White appeared recently on the UFC Unfiltered podcast with hosts Matt Serra and Jim Norton, and said he wants to return to afternoon weigh-ins.

Yes, I do think it’s [the early weigh-ins], and guess what? We’re getting rid of it, said White, as transcribed by MMAjunkie. “We’re looking at taking the weigh-ins back to the way they used to be so that when they weigh in there at the [ceremonial weigh-ins], that will be it. That’ll be the real weigh-in.

Here’s what I believe: I believe any time you change something, everybody looks to take as much advantage as they can of the situation. And I think that when we started doing morning weigh-ins, it was very good – everyone was making weight and it was great. And then people started cutting it closer and closer, thinking they can put on more weight because they have more time to recover. The reality is, it f***ed everything up.

So we’re looking to go back to at 4 o’clock when we do the [ceremonial] weigh-ins, that will be the real weigh-ins. The other thing is, I don’t know any fighters that are morning people. Most of them stay up half the night and sleep half the day, so that might have something to do with the morning weigh-ins, too. You have to get up early to make sure you’re on weight.

We’re going to work with [the athletic commissions] to get it done.”

This is a leather helmet move – it does not fix the problem that generated the early weigh-ins. Fighters will still not have enough time to rehydrate. In an age when the dangers of concussion are becoming increasingly apparent, this is unwise, at best.

The solution to the problem of extreme weight cutting is not a return to a time of less oversight. The solution is the address the problem. There is no single fix, quick or otherwise.

Andy Foster, executive director of the California State Athletic Commission, crafted a 10 Point Plan to fix the lethal problem. It works. The ABC medical committee supports it. The ABC has adopted it. The solution is to adopt all of the points, not less.