Tag: weight cutting

This Week in Obesity: Gegard Mousasi, Daniel Cormier Hint at Upcoming Drops to Middleweight & Light Heavyweight, Respectively


(Mousasi, seen here trying to convince Burt Watson that his tummy is simply an optical illusion created by the unflattering pattern of his shirt. Or what we here in America refer to as The Burgundy Defense.) 

Clearly, we are being shamelessly facetious with that title, for neither Daniel Cormier or Gegard Mousasi could be considered “obese” by any stretch of the imagination. Sure, Cormier is a little heavy for his height, I guess, but his layer of protective fat is a necessity. How the hell else is he suppose to ensure that his own bones are not completely shattered by the shockwave of the wrecking balls he regularly throws at his sparring partners and opponents? He tried cutting a lot of weight once before and it damn near killed him, so what do you people want from the poor guy?! LEAVE DC ALONE, DAMMIT.

I’m sorry, I was a fat child. But thanks to the powers of MMA, I can proudly stand before you as the picture of modern health that I am today. Cormier apparently shares my enthusiasm for all things dietary, as he recently spoke with USA Today and MMAJunkie about the likelihood that he will drop to 205 to fight Jon Jones once and for all. Just not immediately:

USA Today: Physically, I’m different now. When I was saying that I couldn’t make light heavyweight, it wasn’t happening. At my heaviest, I was 264 pounds. I was consistently weighing in for fights at 250 pounds, and that was after training camps. I was losing 7, 8 pounds and being 250 pounds at weigh-ins. Now, I wake up in the morning, and I’m 234 pounds. That’s almost a 20-pound difference. Now it seems realistic. I’m lighter now than even when I was wrestling.

MMAJunkie: At first, I was like so emotionally tied to that fight. I was like, ‘I want to fight Jon Jones. I want to be in that division and fight him immediately.’ But I’m not a very impulsive guy. I kind of think things through.

I’ve thought about it, and I wouldn’t be opposed to fighting one time before then just to see how my body reacts to the weight cut. It’d be very difficult to fight him in my very first fight (at light heavyweight), in a five-round fight, and my first time down in the weight and everything. As I’ve thought about it, I kind of feel it’d be in our best interest to maybe take a fight. 


(Mousasi, seen here trying to convince Burt Watson that his tummy is simply an optical illusion created by the unflattering pattern of his shirt. Or what we here in America refer to as The Burgundy Defense.) 

Clearly, we are being shamelessly facetious with that title, for neither Daniel Cormier or Gegard Mousasi could be considered “obese” by any stretch of the imagination. Sure, Cormier is a little heavy for his height, I guess, but his layer of protective fat is a necessity. How the hell else is he suppose to ensure that his own bones are not completely shattered by the shockwave of the wrecking balls he regularly throws at his sparring partners and opponents? He tried cutting a lot of weight once before and it damn near killed him, so what do you people want from the poor guy?! LEAVE DC ALONE, DAMMIT.

I’m sorry, I was a fat child. But thanks to the powers of MMA, I can proudly stand before you as the picture of modern health that I am today. Cormier apparently shares my enthusiasm for all things dietary, as he recently spoke with USA Today and MMAJunkie about the likelihood that he will drop to 205 to fight Jon Jones once and for all. Just not immediately:

USA Today: Physically, I’m different now. When I was saying that I couldn’t make light heavyweight, it wasn’t happening. At my heaviest, I was 264 pounds. I was consistently weighing in for fights at 250 pounds, and that was after training camps. I was losing 7, 8 pounds and being 250 pounds at weigh-ins. Now, I wake up in the morning, and I’m 234 pounds. That’s almost a 20-pound difference. Now it seems realistic. I’m lighter now than even when I was wrestling.

MMAJunkie: At first, I was like so emotionally tied to that fight. I was like, ‘I want to fight Jon Jones. I want to be in that division and fight him immediately.’ But I’m not a very impulsive guy. I kind of think things through.

I’ve thought about it, and I wouldn’t be opposed to fighting one time before then just to see how my body reacts to the weight cut. It’d be very difficult to fight him in my very first fight (at light heavyweight), in a five-round fight, and my first time down in the weight and everything. As I’ve thought about it, I kind of feel it’d be in our best interest to maybe take a fight. 

Granted, Cormier has hinted at a potential drop in weight before, but like he has repeatedly stated, let’s wait and see how he looks in his UFC debut against Frank Mir this weekend before we start filling our heads with any lofty aspirations of the next challenger to Yadda Yadda’s throne. That tends to backfire.

Speaking of light-heavyweights, Gegard Mousasi, who is fresh off a three round drubbing of Ilir Latifi at UFC on FUEL 9, has also been hinting at a drop in weight. The LHW contender has not fought at middleweight since upkicking his way to a DREAM middleweight championship over Ronaldo Souza at DREAM 6 in September of 2008. Regardless, Mousasi recently reached to his fans via Twitter to poll them on whether or not he should make the drop once again:

I think about good idea, Gegard. I think about very good idea. Anyone else agree?

–J. Jones

With Alessio Sakara Rematch Cancelled, Patrick Cote Announces Move to Welterweight


(Welterweight, middleweight, we don’t care. Just don’t ever lose that twinkle in your eyes, you handsome son of a bitch.) 

Although Patrick Cote managed to secure his first UFC win since 2010 at UFC 154 last month (by way of DQ), we’re still not quite sure if his decision to cut down to welterweight falls into “last ditch effort to save career” territory or not. Regardless, Cote recently told MMAWeekly that he is planning on cutting down to 170 for his next bout now that his UFC 158 rematch with Alessio Sakara has been cancelled due to Sakara’s kidney issues. His reasoning: They build middleweights a lot bigger than they used to.

We’ve been thinking about it since about a year now. I think now it’s the time. I was a pretty decent middleweight a couple years ago, but now those guys are really, really big. They’re cutting from like 230, 225, and I’m walking around at 205 so I spoke with my coach and my nutritionist and it’s doable so we’re going to do it.

Although it seems like Cote might be exaggerating those numbers a little bit, one must first consider that Anthony Johnson walks around at upwards of 230 pounds and used to fight in the same division Cote is shrinking down to. Hell, Thiago Alves still fights at 170 and that dude regularly eats Adam Richman under the table in between training camps.


(Welterweight, middleweight, we don’t care. Just don’t ever lose that twinkle in your eyes, you handsome son of a bitch.) 

Although Patrick Cote managed to secure his first UFC win since 2010 at UFC 154 last month (by way of DQ), we’re still not quite sure if his decision to cut down to welterweight falls into “last ditch effort to save career” territory or not. Regardless, Cote recently told MMAWeekly that he is planning on cutting down to 170 for his next bout now that his UFC 158 rematch with Alessio Sakara has been cancelled due to Sakara’s kidney issues. His reasoning: They build middleweights a lot bigger than they used to.

We’ve been thinking about it since about a year now. I think now it’s the time. I was a pretty decent middleweight a couple years ago, but now those guys are really, really big. They’re cutting from like 230, 225, and I’m walking around at 205 so I spoke with my coach and my nutritionist and it’s doable so we’re going to do it.

Although it seems like Cote might be exaggerating those numbers a little bit, one must first consider that Anthony Johnson walks around at upwards of 230 pounds and used to fight in the same division Cote is shrinking down to. Hell, Thiago Alves still fights at 170 and that dude regularly eats Adam Richman under the table in between training camps.

Still, Cote could quickly find himself up shit creek without a paddle at welterweight. Maybe it’s just us, but we kind of look at Cote as the rich man’s (or perhaps just upper middle class man’s) Scott Smith, ie. a powerful, albeit limited striker with subpar grappling. Cote has fought as high as 205 before and has shown in his losses to Cung Le and Alan Belcher that he doesn’t exactly have the fastest footwork at middleweight, let alone in the deep waters of the welterweight division.

We’re not counting him out, we’re just saying that sometimes cutting weight isn’t necessarily the best move to jump start one’s career in as high-level a promotion as the UFC. For a perfect example of this, look no further than Scott Smith, who attempted the same weight cut under the Strikeforce banner in 2010-2011, only to get faceplant KO’d by Paul Daley and picked apart by Tarec Saffiedine before moving back up to 185. And don’t even get us started on James Irvin…*shudders*

However, Cote also claimed that he was only holding out at 185 for his rematch with Sakara. But now that that fight has been cancelled, “The Predator” would still like to fight at UFC 158 in his native Canada if the option is still available.

I was staying at 185 because of this rematch, but it’s not going to happen. We’re not sure when he’s going to be ready to fight, so for me it was just the right time to do it.

In my mind the target is March 16. If it’s not happening there I’ll be ready to fight around that, but I’m hoping to fight in Montreal.

So what do you think, Potato Nation? Is this a good move for Cote and if so, who would you like to see him square off against at 170?

–J. Jones

Felice Herrig Gets New Opponent for Bellator 84 After Michele Gutierrez Allegedly Fakes Injury to Cover Up Weight Issues


(Whoa! Those are some nice hardwood floors!) 

Although I technically have a Twitter account, I am not what you would consider an avid user, whatever that may mean. In my mind, the best addictions are the old fashioned ones: cocaine, air duster, and drunk driving — preferably at the same time. But if there’s one person out there I consider myself a “follower” of on the Twitter, it’s Felice Herrig, and it’s not just because she occasionally tweets out photos like the one above (although it doesn’t hurt). And after finishing off my last can of Gust last night (which we all know is the Rolls-Royce of air dusters), I happened to stumble upon quite the little story while perusing over Ms. Herrig’s account.

You see, Herrig was set to return to the bright lights of Bellator for the first time since 2010 at Bellator 84 on December 14th. Her opponent was supposed to be the 3-3 Michele Gutierrez. However, it was recently announced that Gutierrez had suffered a hand injury in training and would not be able to fight. And while we were just about to chalk up another victory to that God forsaken injury curse, Herrig came out of the woodwork to declare that not only was Gutierrez faking the injury, but that she had solid proof to back her accusations.

The alleged proof is after the jump. 


(Whoa! Those are some nice hardwood floors!) 

Although I technically have a Twitter account, I am not what you would consider an avid user, whatever that may mean. In my mind, the best addictions are the old fashioned ones: cocaine, air duster, and drunk driving – preferably at the same time. But if there’s one person out there I consider myself a “follower” of on the Twitter, it’s Felice Herrig, and it’s not just because she occasionally tweets out photos like the one above (although it doesn’t hurt). And after finishing off my last can of Gust last night (which we all know is the Rolls-Royce of air dusters), I happened to stumble upon quite the little story while perusing over Ms. Herrig’s account.

You see, Herrig was set to return to the bright lights of Bellator for the first time since 2010 at Bellator 84 on December 14th. Her opponent was supposed to be the 3-3 Michele Gutierrez. However, it was recently announced that Gutierrez had suffered a hand injury in training and would not be able to fight. And while we were just about to chalk up another victory to that God forsaken injury curse, Herrig came out of the woodwork to declare that not only was Gutierrez faking the injury, but that she had solid proof to back her accusations.

According to several sources close to Gutierrez, “Diabalita” had been planning to pull out of the fight for weeks now, due to the fact that she was 22 pounds over the 115 pound limit the bout was agreed to take place at. FightersOnly spoke to Herrig’s manager, Brian Butler, who furthered these allegations:

We heard through several credible sources close to Michele’s camp that she had plans of pulling out of this fight several weeks ago due to her weight being at 140+ pounds and that she was in fact NOT injured. We did not have hard evidence until we saw the postings on Twitter. We could not verify if they were authentic but they looked very convincing. 

Michele refuted these claims, of course, even going as far as to post a picture of herself getting casted in order to lend some credibility to her supposed injury.

Here’s where things get interesting.

Shortly after Gutierrez posted those photos, Herrig posted one of her own, that of a screenshot between Gutierrez and a Bellator fighter named Erin Beach :

Unless Herrig is an expert in the art of Photoshop, this would appear to be pretty damning evidence.

Butler was quick to confirm the general shadiness of the situation:

 Another news outlet posted on Twitter that they called Michele and confirmed they were in fact authentic. Bellator has found another opponent and Felice’s focus is now 100% on this bout.

Further thickening the plot was a tweet sent out by Gutierrez claiming that she was having her hand x-rayed on Monday, December third, when photos had already been taken of her in a cast on Sunday, December second. “I’m no doctor,” said everybody, “But I’m pretty sure that most people get x-rayed before they put a cast on their hand.” The exchange Michele allegedly had with Brandon Vera didn’t exactly help her case.

So basically, it appears that Michele got caught with her possibly-broken hand in the cookie jar a few too many times during her training camp, resulting in her getting caught with her possibly-broken hand in the cookie jar a little over a week out from fight night. Tom, if irony were made strawberries, we’d all be drinking a lot of smoothies right now.

In either case, Gutierrez has been replaced by 7-3 Patricia Vidonic, who Herrig actually defeated back in April by unanimous decision. If any of this sounds familiar, it’s probably because Herrig’s opponent for her co-main event matchup at XFC 15 also withdrew at the last minute due to weight-cutting issues. Herrig’s replacement opponent for that event, InvictaFC fighter Carla Esparza, went on to defeat Herrig by unanimous decision, so let’s hope luck is on her side this time around.

–J. Jones

It’s Official: Diego Sanchez is a Lightweight…Again


(Who knew that “The Dream” was actually short for “The Wet Dream Brought on by Auto-Erotic Asphyxiation”?) 

After going 2-2 in his return to the welterweight division, which began back in 2010 and included wins over Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann, as well as a most recent loss to Jake Ellenberger at the inaugural UFC on FUEL event, it looks like Diego Sanchez is headed back down to lightweight. We have been told by an anonymous source that the move has nothing to do with the fact that B.J. Penn a.k.a the man who handed Sanchez the worst beating of his career has returned to the welterweight division, but rather because BJ Penn a.k.a the man who handed Sanchez the worst beating of his career has left the lightweight division. So rest assured, Sanchez is definitely not ducking B.J. Penn.

Sanchez made the announcement over his Twitter account earlier today in a conversation with UFC color commentator Joe Rogan:

@joerogan there isn’t anyone out there that understands Mma as a whole like you do! Thanks Joe, its back to 155 for me… Should be good!!


(Who knew that “The Dream” was actually short for “The Wet Dream Brought on by Auto-Erotic Asphyxiation”?) 

After going 2-2 in his return to the welterweight division, which began back in 2010 and included wins over Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann, as well as a most recent loss to Jake Ellenberger at the inaugural UFC on FUEL event, it looks like Diego Sanchez is headed back down to lightweight. We have been told by an anonymous source that the move has nothing to do with the fact that B.J. Penn a.k.a the man who handed Sanchez the worst beating of his career has returned to the welterweight division, but rather because BJ Penn a.k.a the man who handed Sanchez the worst beating of his career has left the lightweight division. So rest assured, Sanchez is definitely not ducking B.J. Penn.

Sanchez made the announcement over his Twitter account earlier today in a conversation with UFC color commentator Joe Rogan:

@joerogan there isn’t anyone out there that understands Mma as a whole like you do! Thanks Joe, its back to 155 for me… Should be good!!

There was little denying that, upon his return to welterweight, Sanchez looked a little doughy around the middle, so perhaps this move is for the best. Sanchez also hinted at the drop in weight and called out top contenders Nate Diaz and Anthony Pettis a couple of months ago, so expect him to announce his drop to featherweight in the near future if either of those matchups ever come to fruition*.

We’re obviously just having a little fun at Sanchez’s expense, because the man always makes for entertaining fights regardless of what weight said fights are held at. The power of crazy, and Jesus Christ, also allow Sanchez to absorb tremendous amounts of punishment without ever being knocked out, which is fun for us as well. But you gotta admit, keeping track of what weight Sanchez feels like fighting at these days is as easy as remembering the name of the Filipino prostitute you ordered while on vacation last weekend that turned out to be a dude who in turn refused to leave your hotel room and threatened to call “Big Ron” after that lemur you stole from the zoo bit his face off while he was “tripping balls.”

We’ve all been there, right?

Anyway, who would you like to see Diego face off against now that he’s a lightweight once again? Pettis? Lauzon? Big Ron?

*Clearly, the Pettis matchup is the more likely of the two considering Diaz is next in line for a title shot. But just go with it. 

–J. Jones

Bad Idea of the Day: Former Lightweight/Featherweight/Bantamweight Jeff Curran Plans to Take the UFC by Storm as a Flyweight


(“Good job, good effort.” — James Irvin)

Jeff Curran is living proof that dropping a weight class in MMA often has a negligible effect on your level of success. After kicking off his career as a lightweight — and losing a decision to Matt Serra in his Octagon debut way back at UFC 46 in 2004 — the BJJ black belt eventually transitioned to featherweight to pursue a championship belt in the WEC. Unfortunately, Curran took back-to-back losses against Urijah Faber and Mike Brown, which inspired him to drop another ten pounds. He didn’t fare any better at 135 either, losing decisions to Joseph Benavidez and Takeya Mizugaki in 2009 before exiting the promotion.

After two years of purgatory — in which he went 4-1 competing for the XFO and on Strikeforce and Bellator preliminary cards — the UFC brought Curran back for another run at bantamweight. And after two more losses to Scott Jorgensen and Johnny Eduardo, Big Frog was back at square one. And now there’s this:

Veteran fighter Jeff Curran (33-15-1 MMA, 0-3 UFC), whom the UFC released following back-to-back losses to bantamweights Johnny Eduardo and Scott Jorgensen, is headed to the flyweight division. That’s according to his cousin and training partner, Bellator featherweight champion Pat Curran.

“I don’t know how he’s going to make it, but he’s going to find a way,” Pat recently told MMAjunkie.com…Pat, who defeated Joe Warren for the Bellator belt earlier this year, took up the sport at his cousin’s urging. He said his mentor figure now is planning to regroup on the regional scene in the new weight class.


(“Good job, good effort.” — James Irvin)

Jeff Curran is living proof that dropping a weight class in MMA often has a negligible effect on your level of success. After kicking off his career as a lightweight — and losing a decision to Matt Serra in his Octagon debut way back at UFC 46 in 2004 — the BJJ black belt eventually transitioned to featherweight to pursue a championship belt in the WEC. Unfortunately, Curran took back-to-back losses against Urijah Faber and Mike Brown, which inspired him to drop another ten pounds. He didn’t fare any better at 135 either, losing decisions to Joseph Benavidez and Takeya Mizugaki in 2009 before exiting the promotion.

After two years of purgatory — in which he went 4-1 competing for the XFO and on Strikeforce and Bellator preliminary cards — the UFC brought Curran back for another run at bantamweight. And after two more losses to Scott Jorgensen and Johnny Eduardo, Big Frog was back at square one. And now there’s this:

Veteran fighter Jeff Curran (33-15-1 MMA, 0-3 UFC), whom the UFC released following back-to-back losses to bantamweights Johnny Eduardo and Scott Jorgensen, is headed to the flyweight division. That’s according to his cousin and training partner, Bellator featherweight champion Pat Curran.

“I don’t know how he’s going to make it, but he’s going to find a way,” Pat recently told MMAjunkie.com…Pat, who defeated Joe Warren for the Bellator belt earlier this year, took up the sport at his cousin’s urging. He said his mentor figure now is planning to regroup on the regional scene in the new weight class.

“I think he’s going to have a couple of fights outside the UFC and then (UFC officials will) possibly bring him back in,” Pat said. “I don’t know the whole details, but I think he’s going to fight at…the end of August in the XFO, possibly fight at another show, and try to get an offer in the UFC.”

The UFC launched its flyweight division earlier this year. Ian McCall and Demetrious Johnson’s rematch headlines Friday’s UFC on FX 3 event, and the winner fights Joseph Benavidez later this year to determine the UFC’s inaugural flyweight champion. The new 125-pound weight class has provided new life for former bantamweight-title challengers such as Benavidez and Johnson, as well as vets such John Dodson, Louis Gaudinot and Darren Uyenoyama. Jeff Curran now looks to join that group.

Looking at the above photo of Curran’s last bantamweight weigh-in, you have to wonder where that next ten pounds is going to come from. If you compare it to this earlier photo of Curran at 145, you’ll see that he had to shed his hair and a noticeable amount of muscle to make 135 in the first place. Is competing in the UFC really worth jeopardizing your kidneys and turning yourself into a living skeleton, just so you can get out-wrestled by Demetrious Johnson and fired again? It seems like a decision born more out of desperation than logic.

Far be it from me to tell a fighter how to run his career, but…damn, Jeff Curran is going to look rough at 125.

Dropping a Weight Class to Save Your Career: The Good, The Bad, And the Ugly



(Phil Davis: The UFC’s leading producer of new middleweights.)

By Ben Goldstein

“When in doubt, drop a weight class” — that’s been the mantra for many MMA fighters who have hit rough patches in their careers. Of course, shaving 10-20 pounds off your body is no guarantee of future success, and it occasionally leaves fighters worse off than when they started. Following a week that saw Demian Maia, Dan Miller, and Nik Lentz all decide to seek their fortunes against smaller opponents, we decided to round up a few notable fighters who revitalized themselves at a lighter weight, and a few that became cautionary tales for weight-dropping. Read on, and let us know which UFC fighters should consider taking the weight-class plunge…

The Good

Dominick Cruz

After racking up a 9-0 record — not to mention belts at lightweight and featherweight for the Total Combat promotion — Dominick Cruz challenged Urijah Faber for the WEC featherweight title in March 2007. Unfortunately, Cruz fell into a guillotine choke and tapped at the 1:38 mark of round 1. Cruz addressed the setback by dropping to bantamweight the following year, and has since gone on another 9-0 run at 135, collected the WEC and UFC bantamweight belts, and exacted revenge against his arch-nemesis, the California Kid. We’ll see if he can make it two in a row against Faber in June, but for now, it seems that dropping to bantamweight was the best move of Dominick’s career.



(Phil Davis: The UFC’s leading producer of new middleweights.)

By Ben Goldstein

“When in doubt, drop a weight class” — that’s been the mantra for many MMA fighters who have hit rough patches in their careers. Of course, shaving 10-20 pounds off your body is no guarantee of future success, and it occasionally leaves fighters worse off than when they started. Following a week that saw Demian Maia, Dan Miller, and Nik Lentz all decide to seek their fortunes against smaller opponents, we decided to round up a few notable fighters who revitalized themselves at a lighter weight, and a few that became cautionary tales for weight-dropping. Read on, and let us know which UFC fighters should consider taking the weight-class plunge…

The Good

Dominick Cruz

After racking up a 9-0 record — not to mention belts at lightweight and featherweight for the Total Combat promotion — Dominick Cruz challenged Urijah Faber for the WEC featherweight title in March 2007. Unfortunately, Cruz fell into a guillotine choke and tapped at the 1:38 mark of round 1. Cruz addressed the setback by dropping to bantamweight the following year, and has since gone on another 9-0 run at 135, collected the WEC and UFC bantamweight belts, and exacted revenge against his arch-nemesis, the California Kid. We’ll see if he can make it two in a row against Faber in June, but for now, it seems that dropping to bantamweight was the best move of Dominick’s career.

Tim Boetsch

As physically imposing as Tim Boetsch looked at light-heavyweight, the powerful wrestlers at the top of the division (see: Matt Hamill, Jason Brilz, Phil Davis) always foiled his momentum up the UFC ranks. Last year, the Barbarian made the decision to drop to 185, and hasn’t sacrificed an ounce of his power in the process. Decision wins over Kendall Grove and Nick Ring proved that he belonged in the middleweight mix, and his extraordinary comeback win over Yushin Okami at UFC 144 earned him a high-profile match against Michael Bisping — another fighter who found greater success dropping from light-heavyweight to middleweight.

Jacob Volkmann

You don’t have to agree with his politics or sense of humor, but you can’t argue with success. Volkmann was thrown into the deep end when he arrived to the UFC as a welterweight, suffering defeats against Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann. Tired of being manhandled by larger men, Volkmann dropped to 155 and has since gone on a 5-0 run, with wins over Efrain Escudero, Danny Castillo, and Antonio McKee.

Mark Munoz

Mark Munoz’s head-kick loss to Matt Hamill was the first defeat of his career, but like Dominick Cruz, Munoz took it as an immediate sign to test the waters further down the scale. As a middleweight, he has compiled an impressive 7-1 record, most recently stopping Chris Leben in the main event of UFC 138. Though an injury pulled Munoz from a fight against Chael Sonnen at UFC on FOX 2, his next fight could have him knocking on the door of a title shot.

Continue to the next page for the *not* so good…