Weight Cutting Is Becoming More Hazardous To Fighters’ Health
The issue of weight cutting and its effects on fighters’ health is becoming more of a hot topic these days, and never more so than in the day before UFC 177, where both Barao and debuting flyweight and Olympic gold medalist wrestler Henry Cejudo were forced out due to complications in weight cutting. Even if they had made weight, there’s no telling what getting punched in the face by a professional while dehydrated would have done to their health.
More and more studies of the effects of MMA on fighters’ long-term brain health are emerging, and we could soon find out that cutting too much weight shortens their lives quite significantly. It’s time for fighters to start taking their health and well being a bit more seriously, and if they are injuring themselves to make weight, it may be time to move up a weight class.
Same-day weigh-ins could also help curtail this dangerous problem.
