UFC weigh-ins used to be an afterthought. In the early days, one was held in a bathroom.
Now weigh-ins can attract up to 8,000 spectators, and are broadcast on FOX Sports 1. Some people get drunk for weigh-ins; Conor McGregor’s irish fans, notoriously.
This is what it looks like when ‘Notorious’ weighs in.
The reality of a weigh in, whether in a local community center or at a big show, is that they are miserable. There are few ways to guarantee that someone is in a bad a mood as certain as depriving he or she of food and water for a day or two, and then subjecting them to sauna time, while wearing hot clothing. The reality of weigh-ins is that it is smelly and sweaty and miserable.
However, visually, weigh-ins have a distinctive aesthetic appeal. It is something like bodybuilding, but without the all show and little go factor. MMA bodies are fact as real as it gets. A weigh-in at an elite MMA event showcases a body perfectly prepared for the greatest physical test that humans have undergone since time immemorial – fighting another person.
Weigh ins can even be hot.
If you are a gay man or a straight woman, watching a bunch of guys in perfect shape disrobe to their Reebok underoos and flex can have a distinct appeal. If you are a gay woman or a straight man, the same is true when women’s MMA fighters weigh in.
There is for many an undeniable sexual appeal to watching someone of the sex you are attracted to stripping down and displaying themselves. That is how Ronda Rousey weighing in vs. Alexis Davis at UFC 175, on US Independence Day – 4 July 2014 became so popular. This video has been watched nearly 6,000,000 times, and now it is going to be nearly 6,000,000 + 1!
By some standards, that makes it, as the title says, at the very least, the sexiest Ronda Rousey moment ever.
