MMA fighters always say that cutting weight and making the final walk to the scales is most of the time the hardest part about competing, and one visual from an upcoming Extreme Fighting Championship card provides an incredible insight into the ongoing problem of weight-cutting, as featherweight Trezeguet Kanyinda had to be physically carried to the scales to attempt to weigh in.
Kanyinda was scheduled to face Shannon van Tonder in a 145-pound bout at EFC 88 and had a miserable walk to the scales. Kanyinda had such a problem with the weight-cut that he had to be dragged to the scales by his team members at the official weigh-ins, weighing in seven pounds over the limit and looking exhausted and drained in the process.
Kanyinda went on to lose by decision to his opponent, and dropping to an overall record of 3-5 in his professional fighting career.
Kanyinda’s display of exhaustion and physical deterioration adds fuel to the fire in the debate over whether weight-cutting in MMA should even exist, and at the very least what can be done now to change the rules so that fighters don’t put themselves on the brink of physical disaster just to make weight for an MMA competition.
The UFC has had plenty of brutal weight-cuts that have shocked the MMA fanbase as a whole, including T.J. Dillashaw when he went down to flyweight to challenge for the title against Henry Cejudo, and former UFC welterweight title contender Johny Hendricks who had plenty of weight-cutting issues at welterweight and during a brief run at middleweight.
Other championship-level fighters have had issues with weight cuts, including former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway and former UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg.
What do you think needs to be done with weight-cutting in MMA? Should more weight classes be added to big promotions such as the UFC and Bellator?