Issue 200

December 2023

Dehydration can make MMA concussions worse, but could colder weather also be a factor in head injuries? Ray Klerck investigates.

The winter months are the CEO of ghosting your abs. Whether you’re a fan or a fighter, the cold triggers the bulking season, but how much weight do we really add? Well, according to a paper in Eating and Weight Disorders, not that much. Between November and January, most people only add .88 to 2 lbs. Sadly, this weight usually becomes a permanent fixture. Fighters appreciate that these extra pounds can make it increasingly challenging to cut weight as the years tick by. Just ask guys like Yoel Romero and Paddy Pimblet. Weight cuts are never short on controversy from a health perspective but are necessary to set MMA as a fair and level playing field. While the drawbacks are well documented, there’s one weight-cut side effect that new research thinks may fly under the radar: an increased concussion risk. 

Head games

The bigger they are, the harder they fall. While it may be a cliched 1980s mantra, a rapid weight cut could mean a harder fall in the octagon, suggests new research in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. MMA fighters who drastically cut a lot of weight via dehydration before a fight have a higher risk of suffering concussions or being misdiagnosed with head trauma. Upwards of 60% of athletes in combat sports said their symptoms were far worse after dehydrating themselves to make a weight cut. 

Boxing is usually the front-runner for concussions, but MMA fighters reported their concussion severity to be 40 per cent higher than other sports, particularly boxing. This was thought to be thanks to the mix of striking and contact with the ground. What’s important to note is that cutting weight is fine when done slowly using training and diet, which often brings out the best in a fighter. However, the idea that cutting most of the weight using dehydration and then expecting to perform risk-free is about as bright as jamming a fork in a toaster. 

Up and down water

Weight loss is never a health concern, but extreme dehydration that some fighters do, a practice not condoned by the UFC, can impact the brain. There are neurological implications to rapid weight loss and dehydration that we’re just discovering. "This study shows that current concussion testing does not account for the crossover of symptoms from being dehydrated and is potentially putting fighters at risk,” said Researcher Nasir Uddin from St Mary's University. "Not only is cutting weight through dehydration in and of itself dangerous, but it might actually exacerbate concussion symptoms and, even more concerningly, means medical professionals may actually misdiagnose it.” 

Another interesting finding was that 65% of fighters had weight-cut failures that left them lacking energy, strength, power, and coordination. Despite this, fight fans are quick to give a fighter an advantage who re-gains a considerable amount of weight after a weigh-in. Look at Alex Pereira for UFC 291, who gained 22.5lb in 24 hours post weigh-in. While Periera did win, this research means these fighters may be disadvantaged even if fully rehydrated pre-fight. 

Is winter to blame? 

If dehydration is your go-to for weight loss, then failing to use diet may have been weather-dependent. Cold weather makes everyone eat more, and fresh research in the journal Nature may have proved why. You use more energy to keep a normal body temperature during colder months, which kickstarts your appetite. The paper found all mammals have a cluster of neurons that act as the on-button for cold-weather-appetite-increase. In a survival response, cold, like exercise or diet, increases your appetite to counterbalance weight loss. 

This means fighters exposed to colder temperatures may rely more on dehydration to cut weight, potentially putting themselves at a greater risk of concussion. Altitude training in the cold could make fighters eat more, but this remains a tried and tested practice that seems to clock up the victories. Additionally, the UFC fighter with the record for the most losses by TKO (8) comes from Brazil, so the cold-weather-concussion-dehydration-appetite-link doesn’t add up. Between 2014 and 2020, the ratio of UFC knockouts to submissions has remained much the same, but there’s no reliable data about whether there are more MMA knockouts in winter and if dehydration is at play. That’s a job for the fight statisticians, but it’s doubtful that colder weather makes fighters eat more, which makes them dehydrate more. 

Winter isn’t to blame

Dehydration is nobody’s friend. Fighters don’t want to do it because it’s well-documented as one of the worst things you can do before a bout. Your power and repeat effort performance is drastically reduced 24 hours after dehydration, found in a paper in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. How a fighter gets to this point is up to the effectiveness of their training camp, and it’s definitely more challenging to drop weight during the colder months. What’s clear is that a gradual weight reduction that limits dehydration because a fighter sticks close to their fight weight is the smart way to lower concussion risks and get a longer career out of MMA. That’s the thinking fighter's choice.