Issue 090

July 2012

Dropping weight divisions takes a little more than simply skipping lunch, as these five fighters will maintain.

1. Ricco Rodriguez

A true heavyweight, Rodriguez’ size helped him to a fifth-round TKO win over Randy Couture for the vacant UFC heavyweight title in what remains the best performance of his career at UFC 39 almost a decade ago. Since then, Ricco has faced many foes – including fighting fifty times inside the cage – but his most public battles have been against drugs and the buffet table. Less than a year after winning the title, Rodriguez was looking distinctly blubbery. By 2005/06 his ever-expanding girth saw him fighting at super heavyweight and looking grossly out of shape. Happily, a couple of years later he was back down to heavyweight and, in 2009, around 100lb down from his peak, he even flirted with a move to light heavyweight and amassed the longest winning streak of his career, twelve in a row (albeit against mostly untested opposition).

2. Murilo ‘Ninja’ Rua 

Rua’s entry into the 2004 Pride heavyweight grand prix never seemed like the best idea in the world. Whether a peculiarly personal challenge, him stepping aside to clear the way for younger brother Mauricio ‘Shogun’, or a misguided attempt to invade the weight class above Chute Boxe teammate and Pride middleweight (205lb) champion Wanderlei Silva, Rua had no business fighting the very dangerous Sergei Kharitonov at the higher weight. If his decision to enter the tournament was a poor one, his method of putting on weight, which from the looks of things mostly involved burgers and pizzas may have been even worse. A usually fleshy 200lb’er, Rua’s unmissable spare tire was targeted by skilled boxer Kharitonov and the Brazilian was brutally knocked out inside five minutes. Rua would drop to Pride’s 183lb weight class 18 months later.

3. Gina Carano

Much has been written about Gina Carano’s body, and specifically her weight, since her historic fight with Julie Kedzie at the first ever EliteXC event in February 2007. Putting women’s MMA on the map in North America and boasting bags more box office appeal than any female in the sport’s history, Carano was instantly under a very bright spotlight. Usually a good 150lb or more, and curvy with it, even after a hard training camp, Gina continually struggled to make 135lb, and even the 140lb weight class EliteXC specifically created for her. 

Against Kelly Kobold in October 2008, she had to strip completely naked to make weight, at the third attempt and in very chaotic circumstances. In her last fight before Hollywood came calling, her and Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos drew almost 14,000 fans to Strikeforce homebase the HP Pavilion in San Jose as main eventers, Carano was in superb shape. Sadly for her legions of fans, she was stopped in just under a round by the Brazilian.

4. Yoshihiro Akiyama

Belatedly heeding the advice of those (including Dana White) who implored him to do what every other fighter of his size does in MMA these days, perma-tanned fashion victim ‘Sexyama’ finally cut weight to make his welterweight debut at UFC 144, facing Jake Shields after a seven-year career spent at or around 185lb. Absolutely shredded at 170lb, Akiyama in real life looked like the unrealistic, digitally manipulated publicity shots Hollywood actors often use. His muscles in perfectly balanced proportion, Akiyama looked like he’d trained for the photoshoot of a lifetime. Unfortunately, he fought like it, too, and when the judges delivered their verdict a few flashy takedowns couldn’t negate the fact he was consistently outstruck by notoriously awkward striker and ground specialist Shields.

5. Joe Riggs

A professional fighter since just after his 19th birthday in late 2001, Joe ‘Diesel’ Riggs used to be a big, beefy heavyweight and is one of a fairly select group of ‘name’ fighters to have competed in four different weight classes. Tipping the scales at 310lb when he started his MMA training, Riggs fought at heavyweight for the first couple of years of his career. Putting his weight loss down to determination, work ethic, lots of conditioning drills and not eating junk food (basic stuff really, but ignored by all kinds of wacky diet fads), Riggs was a UFC regular at middleweight and welterweight between mid 2004 and late 2006. In his biggest fight, he ironically failed to make weight, blowing a title shot on the scales the day beforehand and was crushed by welterweight champion Matt Hughes.