Cutting Weight

Mellor

I'm looking for opinions on cutting weight. How much is a reasonable amount to aim for? To put it another way, what should be the ideal "actual" weights of fighters who weigh in at each limit? (155, 170 etc)

I've heard of fighters regularly losing 10-15 pounds in the days before weight in, but on the other hand I've seen fighters come short and have to lose 2lbs in an hour to make weight (obviously some also don't make weight). This is hardly a good idea to carry out for each fight?

MrStuffins

I think 5-6 pounds would be ideal no?

Any more and you should've worked harder!

If you need to cut like, 50 lbs, give Bobby Southworth a shout and he'll give you some tips

dunkamania

THiago Alves walks around at 200-210. He fights at 170. This has led to some issues making weight, but when he does fight he is much bigger than most opponents. Him and GSP are the only 2 WW that looked much bigger than Matt Hughes

MrStuffins

dunkamania wrote: »

THiago Alves walks around at 200-210. He fights at 170. This has led to some issues making weight, but when he does fight he is much bigger than most opponents. Him and GSP are the only 2 WW that looked much bigger than Matt Hughes

GSP is fine though, he's huge but doesnt cut as much as Alves.

That's why i reckon at UFC100, GSP will take Alves into the Championship rounds and Alves will be too drained to do anything.

The guy is a monster though!

Mellor

MrStuffins wrote: »

I think 5-6 pounds would be ideal no?

See this is when our idea of ideal differs I think. 5-6 pounds is an amount that is easily cut, and regained for the fight. But I think you are giving up a considerable edge by not pushing it more. if I could cut 10 instead of 5, then thats a potential 5 extra pounds of muscle and weight to toss about.

dunkamania

MrStuffins wrote: »

GSP is fine though, he's huge but doesnt cut as much as Alves.

That's why i reckon at UFC100, GSP will take Alves into the Championship rounds and Alves will be too drained to do anything.

The guy is a monster though!

GSP is huge too, and cuts alot of weight. Its only a matter of time before he cant make 170lbs, and has to move up to MW

Raze_them_all

there is no set ideal weight, If lets say you and your opponent both cut 8lbs.....you could be completely wiped by it and he could find it not half as bad, the best way of doing it is to do a trial run or two when you've no fights coming up but are still training

Dean Mitchell

Do Irish MMA events e.g Cage Of Truth,Rumble In Rush have the weigh-ins the day prior to the event?? If so do Irish fighters cut much much weight??

dunkamania

There are day before weigh-ins, but Irish fighters would on average cut less than their American counterparts

Raze_them_all

dunkamania wrote: »

There are day before weigh-ins, but Irish fighters would on average cut less than their American counterparts

True the most I think I've heard anyone cut on the day is 4-5kg

cowzerp

Dean Mitchell wrote: »

Do Irish MMA events e.g Cage Of Truth,Rumble In Rush have the weigh-ins the day prior to the event?? If so do Irish fighters cut much much weight??

I did the day before weigh ins but for C class fights same day weigh ins are ok, for pro fights a or b, 24 hours is a must.

MartyMcFly84

I cut about about 5kg for my 1st fight and about 7kg for my second one and both times the guys were bigger than me. Most I ever cut in a day was 3-4kg though, so I dunno maybe I should cut more.....

Derek Coleman

I recently did a 3 hour training session and drank water throughout the session but I sweated a lot. I lost 2.3kgs after the 3 hours without even trying.

I reckon I could cut 5 kgs of weight to make a weight limit. Haven't tried it tho. And how I'd feel after it would be a mystery. I walk around at 66kgs. I'd say its very much down to the individual.

Judomad

There really is no right or wrong answer...its all about proportion..if i was 140kg i could probably cut alot more weight than a guy at 65kg so its pointless saying this amount or that amount is the ideal amount..

walshb

Mellor wrote: »

I'm looking for opinions on cutting weight. How much is a reasonable amount to aim for? To put it another way, what should be the ideal "actual" weights of fighters who weigh in at each limit? (155, 170 etc)

I've heard of fighters regularly losing 10-15 pounds in the days before weight in, but on the other hand I've seen fighters come short and have to lose 2lbs in an hour to make weight (obviously some also don't make weight). This is hardly a good idea to carry out for each fight?

It all depends on the frame and height too. If a person is fairly active and fit and not overweight and has a BMI that is healthy, then for fight weight, he should be prepared to lose or drop several lbs. So, a 5 feet 10 inch normal framed man may weigh 12 stone, but he could easily expect to fight at 160 lbs, an 8 lb loss or he could go further and drop to 154 lbs. That may be a little too much, but it may not!

From experience in keeping my weight in check, it would not be unusual for a person
to drop 14 lbs in 6-8 days. It seems a lot, but sweat training and limited intake of food and water, and this would fall off.

It's important not to over-do the weight loss and try to drop too much, ending up
at a weight that is too low and you feel exhausted and weak.

My take on a fighter weighing in at a fight weight of 155 or 170 would see them
walking around at 165 and 185 respectively, and maybe more

t-ha

+1 on the frame. If you're carrying lots of muscle then there's alot of water stored in there usually, so in theory you could cut more weight without getting too dehydrated.

I've cut 5kg before for a same-day weigh in and felt ok, I doubt if I could do more than 8 or 9kg for a day-before weigh in without feeling ****ty in the fight (I'm 6'1").

mcdermott

t-ha wrote: »

+1 on the frame. If you're carrying lots of muscle then there's alot of water stored in there usually, so in theory you could cut more weight without getting too dehydrated.

I've cut 5kg before for a same-day weigh in and felt ok, I doubt if I could do more than 8 or 9kg for a day-before weigh in without feeling ****ty in the fight (I'm 6'1").

how long did it take you to cut the 5kg?

Dean Mitchell

How long do fighters normally spend in the sauna???

MartyMcFly84

I spent 30mins with a plastic suit and a hoodie on....it was a feckin nightmare!!

cardio,shoot me

my brother cut from 77kg to 68.9kg IIRC

t-ha

mcdermott wrote: »

how long did it take you to cut the 5kg?

To put it back on? About 5 hours. To cut it in the first place, technically about a day but there's alot of preparation in the week before that (sodium/water loading, tapering etc.) to get that much water out when it matters.

walshb

A good cardio workout with a sweat suit and SOME normal gear will lose
you 3.5-4 lbs. That is 1.3-1-7 kgs

I do work outs and use sweat suits to keep trim and on average, it's 3-4 lbs for a good
session. This consists of a 25 minute solid skip and 15 mins weights and ten mins of the stair climber. The key is not to drink too much water to compensate.

walshb

Dean Mitchell wrote: »

How long do fighters normally spend in the sauna???

Saunas aren't all that good as the perception is that you lose weight, but it's very little really. You would want to be skipping in the sauna to see real weight loss.