Issue 103
July 2013
Richard Cartey
Assistant editor
Fighters Only magazine
YES
It might not be of much interest to fighters and coaches, but to fans and analysts it would cut through plenty of unceasing debate and speculation. Yes, in the majority of cases there won’t be much separation, but how many times have you heard about Frankie Edgar being ‘so small for the lightweight class’ he used to rule over? And how often has your attention been drawn to the size discrepancy of two combatants? All without anyone actually knowing the answer. How small, or big, are these fighters really? There might be a visual difference, and you can make an educated guess, but no one knows for certain. If the fight night weights were added to the on-screen graphics, it would put all this ‘he’s too small’ hoopla into some context. It’s bizarre for there to be an area so subject to such constant guesswork and discussion, and yet no apparent effort to reveal the answer.
Sara McMann
Bantamweight UFC female, 2004 Olympic freestyle wrestling silver medalist
NO
I don’t really think it’s that big of a deal whether or not a fighter’s fight-night weight is a part of the tale of the tape. A fighter should only need to worry about what type of nutrition they’re putting in their body after they weigh-in. I think it’s safe to assume that if everyone weighed in at around 170lb, they’d end up being in range of each other on fight night. You’re probably going to be in range of around 5lb to 6lb of one another by the first bell. You’re probably not going to get too many situations where one guy comes in on fight night at 175lb whereas his opponent comes in at 205lb. I don’t believe that will happen unless one of them is choosing to fight at a weight class where they’re at a disadvantage. I think everybody probably cuts around the same amount and we all rebound around the same.
What you had to say on the matter ...
“I think they should, just to put in perspective how much weight is lost and gained within a few days. See what change is made.”
@SJH_13
YES
“No because it’ll just lead to a lot of pointless arguments about weight difference; fight record should be added though.”
@JOEL_BOLAND
NO
“Yes, because the difference can be significant. And there should be a limit to the weigh-in and fight-day weight differences.”
@CAPTAINTAU
YES
“It would be interesting, but it would add something else for the fighters to do; not sure they’d enjoy that on fight day.”
@18DANIELCLARK
NO
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