Today’s MMA fighters are better than they’ve ever been, which means competitors are continually looking to gain an edge over their opponents. For many, that edge is gained during the weight cut.The idea behind cutting weight is simple: A fighter loses …
Today’s MMA fighters are better than they’ve ever been, which means competitors are continually looking to gain an edge over their opponents. For many, that edge is gained during the weight cut.
The idea behind cutting weight is simple: A fighter loses anywhere from five to 30 pounds (mostly water weight) leading up to a fight in order to compete in a lower weight class. Once the fighter weighs-in for an event, he re-hydrates and gains back most, if not all, of the weight he has lost, thus gaining a size advantage during the fight.
As you would suspect, there are risks to this practice. Besides taking an incredible toll on an one’s body, studies have shown that weight cuts can effect a fighter’s mental state as well.
In a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, it was found that athletes who lost more than four percent of their body mass before a match showed “significantly higher levels of confusion on the day of the competition.”
There’s also the risk of “gassing” during the fight after a significantly tough weight cut. How many times have we seen a fighter enter the cage with a huge size advantage, only to be noticeably fatigued by the third round?
Still, despite these risks, some fighters continue to take on enormous weight cuts in order to gain a slight edge in their fights.
For four years Georges St-Pierre has been the supreme talent of the welterweight division.
St-Pierre has ruled it accordingly, but there are three combatants who have been mentally victimized by the champ.
The three major victims I’ll get to late…
For four years Georges St-Pierre has been the supreme talent of the welterweight division.
St-Pierre has ruled it accordingly, but there are three combatants who have been mentally victimized by the champ.
The three major victims I’ll get to later.
St-Pierre to date has had 22 career fights—he’s only come up short twice, to Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. Those loses he would avenge in typical “Rush-esque” fashion.
St-Pierre is a world class MMA-ist in every sense of the word—Jiu-jitsu black belt, Gaidojutsu black belt, Kyokushin 3rd black belt, accomplished wrestler and he’s also well versed in Muay-Thai and boxing, not to mention his core strength.
One phrase comes to mind—all rounder.
Of late St-Pierre seems to have failed to finish four of his last opponents—all ending in unanimous decision wins, but somehow, St-Pierre has been able to wreak both mental and physical havoc on said fighters psyche.
Josh Koscheck is not on the list but it’s left to be seen whether he will suffer the same fate as the other three. He is set to throw down with Matt Hughes at UFC 135, that fight will give an indication on whether he too has succumbed to what I’d like to call “The GSP Fatigue”.
Let’s take a look at three casualties of “The GSP Fatigue:”
Jake Shields has had a terrible past few weeks.His father and manager sadly passed away on Aug. 29, and he was stopped for the first time in his career. Clearly he needs to regroup before he steps back into the octagon to try to bring his UFC rec…
Jake Shields has had a terrible past few weeks.
His father and manager sadly passed away on Aug. 29, and he was stopped for the first time in his career. Clearly he needs to regroup before he steps back into the octagon to try to bring his UFC record back to .500.
When the time comes to step back in the cage, Shields will most likely be demoted to fighting on the main card, much to his dismay. He will also be demoted to fighting middle of the pack welterweights in an effort to prove that he is worthy to fight another title contender.
Who will show up in the next fight? Shields the Strikeforce champion welterweight, or the Shields that can’t deal with strong stand-up? Here are some matchups that may be able to help figure that out…
Charlie Brenneman got the opportunity of a lifetime when he accepted a fight with top prospect Rick Story on just two days notice.He won the fight by unanimous decision, upsetting the favorite and launching himself into the long list of the most impres…
Charlie Brenneman got the opportunity of a lifetime when he accepted a fight with top prospect Rick Story on just two days notice.
He won the fight by unanimous decision, upsetting the favorite and launching himself into the long list of the most impressive fighters of 2011.
The list of the most impressive victories of the year includes newcomers, title challengers and underdogs, all overcoming the odds, winning big and setting the stage for what’s to come in their UFC careers.
These are the top 10 most impressive victories of the first half of 2011, and they won’t be the only ones.
Rick Story is making big waves in the UFC’s welterweight division.There has been hype surrounding Story for a while now and at UFC 130 he proved he could back the hype up.The young up-and-comer was considered an underdog going into his bout with perenn…
Rick Story is making big waves in the UFC’s welterweight division.
There has been hype surrounding Story for a while now and at UFC 130 he proved he could back the hype up.
The young up-and-comer was considered an underdog going into his bout with perennial top five welterweight Thiago Alves. Not to be counted out, Story came out at UFC 130 and fought the fight of his life.
Rick came into the fight with an excellent game plan. Using a strategy similar to Jon Fitch’s when he fought Alves for the second time, the young contender pressed forward, pinned Alves up against the cage and took him down. He kept Alves off balance and gave him little space to get comfortable striking.
The strategy proved effective for the first two rounds and that was enough to earn Story the biggest victory in his young career.
Shortly after his victory of Thiago Alves, Rick was presented with the a huge, albeit risky opportunity.
Rick Story was offered the chance to fight Nate Marquardt in less than a month after his victory over Alves; an opportunity that could skyrocket him to the top of the welterweight division—or completely halt the momentum he established with his recent victory.
Story accepted the fight with Marquardt, replacing an injured Anthony Johnson.
What I’m wondering is whether or not this was an intelligent move for Rick.
One big advantage is that taking this fight will get him on Dana White‘s good side, for sure. It’s no secret that Dana loves fighters who will fight anyone at any time. In the UFC’s stacked welterweight division, with so many guys vying for a shot at the title, being in White’s good graces is definitely a good thing.
Another obvious advantage is that a victory over Nate Marquardt would put Rick Story no more than one win away from a title shot. He might even get the next title shot, just based on beating Nate. Beating Marquart would put Story on a seven fight win streak, with his past two victories coming over top contenders. It would be hard to argue that anyone else deserves the shot more.
Now, let’s enter the disadvantages to Story taking this fight.
He does not have enough time for a proper training camp. Nate is arguably more dangerous than any opponent Rick has faced and certainly the most experienced. Marquardt has faced some of the best in the world; he is not a man you want to face on short notice.
Many people are surprised that Story was even able to take this fight, given the beating he took against Alves in the third round. The fight with Marquardt is in less than a month and so Story would need to receive the minimum medical suspension in order to partake in the bout. So, there is a reasonable chance that Story will still be feeling some of the effects of his fight with Alves when he goes into his fight with Nate.
As far as how well these two match up, things don’t look good for Story. Marquardt has beat better strikers than Rick, as well as better submission specialists. Nate may not have defeated a better wrestler than Story, but he was able to mostly neutralize the wrestling of Yushin Okami at UFC 122. Based on that, it’s not a stretch to think that Rick will have a tough time getting this fight to the ground.
His best chance will likely be to push the pace against Marquardt and try to wear him out. This is Nate’s first time fighting at welterweight and there is a good chance he’ll have a tough time with the weight cut.
This is the biggest fight in Story’s career. He will either shoot up to the top of the welterweight division, or destroy the momentum he’s worked so hard to build up.
Has Rick Story bitten off more than he can chew? Tune into Versus on June 26th and find out.
If Rick Story’s win over Thiago Alves at UFC 130 was not gutsy enough, he will now step in to take on Nate Marquardt with less than a month of rest time. Despite UFC 130 taking place on May 30, MMAJunkie is reporting that Story has agreed to step…
If Rick Story’s win over Thiago Alves at UFC 130 was not gutsy enough, he will now step in to take on Nate Marquardt with less than a month of rest time.
Despite UFC 130 taking place on May 30, MMAJunkie is reporting that Story has agreed to step back into the Octagon on June 26 at UFC on Versus 4.
While he is used to fighting regularly, Story fought four times in 2010, this is still a rarely seen move for any professional fighter.
Anthony “Rumble” Johnson was set to headline UFC on Versus 4 against Marquardt, but the oversized welterweight unfortunately suffered a should injury in training camp.
Story originally called out Jon Fitch, but Fitch said he was only interested in fighting “main eventers,” or either current or past champions.
That was not a big deal for Rick “The Horror” Story, responding by saying that he just wants to fight the best competition available in the division.
Nate Marquardt, a perennial middleweight contender, became available and Story stayed true to his word.
This will be “Nate the Great’s” first battle at 170 pounds, deciding to make the drop after a decisive win over Dan Miller at 185.
Marquardt noticed that his weight was a little lighter than usual during the training camp for that fight, and training partner Georges St-Pierre, the reigning welterweight champion, suggested that now may be a good time to consider a drop from 185 to 170.
The decision to drop a weight class was made quickly, as Marquardt defeated Miller fairly recently in March of this year.
Marquardt was always recognized as a larger middleweight, so it will be interesting to see how he is able to perform at 170 pounds.
As for Rumble, this is his third UFC fight in three years that he has had to pull out of due to injury. This one is particularly unfortunate since it would have been Johnson’s first main event fight.
No word on how soon Johnson will be able to return to action.
UFC on Versus 4 takes place at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
