15 elements of mixed martial arts that need to be changed for the benefit of the sport – Week 1

There are certain aspects of mixed martial arts that simply make no sense.

And when my loveable colleague Pat McCarry took a look at the 15 ways that rugby could be improved, it struck a chord with me and made me think that, as physical as rugby is, MMA is far more dangerous and needs some improvement in pretty much all areas. There are elements of the sport that are still counter-intuitive when it comes to fighter safety, fan enjoyment and the overall legitimisation of the sport. I would like to make it clear that this is very much an opinion piece and I've decided to drip feed my ideas for rule changes over 15 weeks and, while some of them are a little bit out there, I think that they just make sense to switch up.

Week 1. Weight missers

There are very few things that piss off a promoter more than a fighter missing weight. When you sign on the dotted line that you agree to a physical contest with another competitor at a certain weight, then every element of that contract must be honoured. You can't come in a pound over (obviously accounting for the 1 lb allowance in place for non-title fights), the same way that you can't bring a knife into the octagon. It's an agreement to compete under previously discussed conditions and any breach of those conditions should be met with a harsher penalty than the forfeit of 20% of a fighter's purse. Over the years, the UFC has seen recidivists such as Anthony Johnson, Kelvin Gastelum and John Lineker continuously miss the weight targets ahead of their fights. Athletic commissions need to be more involved in the weight cutting processes and work alongside the promoters to make mixed martial arts a safer sport. I believe that if a fighter misses weight they should forfeit 50% of their purse to their opponent and, if it happens again, they are instantly suspended by the athletic commission for a period of 9 months. Whether it's a pound over or ten pounds, missing weight gives one fighter an unfair advantage over his/her opponent the same way that a performance enhancing drug does (to a different extent obviously) so weight missing needs to be eradicated if fights are to take place on an even keel. https://youtu.be/zxIr4qqOi4M Come back next week when we suppose that mixed martial artists should compete without gloves (it's a divisive one).