OPINION: 15 elements of MMA that need to be changed for the benefit of the sport – Week 3

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

And when my lovable 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. - In Week 1 we looked at how to deal with fighters missing weight. - In Week 2 we supposed that concussive brain trauma would go down if fighters fought without gloves.

Week 3. The weight cut

The weight cut in itself is an area of the fight game that needs to be seriously evaluated if the safety of fighters is to be maintained and careers lengthened. The way it currently works is that fighters suck every bit of water out of their bodies that they physically can before stepping on the scales and replenishing themselves with fluids in the 24-hour period between weigh-ins and fight time. In some cases, that involves dehydrating oneself to the point of serious illness and has hospitalised competitors on more than one occasion. The severity of the problem became crystal clear when, in 2013, Brazilian mixed martial artist Leandro Souza passed away after taking diuretic pills to make weight before a fight.

RT @guicruzzz: Shooto Brazil 43 canceled after Leandro 'Feijao' Souza's death (@guicruzzz) http://t.co/C5KTrYGlBf

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 27, 2013

When people's lives are being lost, the issue cannot be brushed under the carpet with the "most fighters make weight with no problem" mentality. It's a concept that was adopted more from the sport of amateur wrestling than boxing as boxers tend to put more focus on technique in their fight camp rather than weight-cutting methods when compared to mixed martial artists. There is no perfect solution because fighters are always going to try to get an advantage but what I propose is that the athletic commissions limit the amount of weight that fighters are able to lose and put back on. https://youtu.be/0NuxGqDgf0E This would involve representatives of the commission randomly visiting fighters' gyms at random to keep track of fighters' weights, noting the average training weight of the competitor and not allowing them to drop more than 15 pounds before the weigh-in. It would not negatively affect the fighters at all because each athlete will be forced to comply to this rule so rather than have two welterweights absolutely kill themselves to make 170lb, we would now have both guys fight at middleweight. This amendment would also benefit the viewing experience as fight fans would get to see athletes competing at their fittest, most technical level, rather than watch two fighters who have spent the last fortnight of their respective fight camps focusing on the scale. A major issue that hasn't yet been introduced to the UFC but will be in a matter of months is the banning of IVs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3wi3C044JU Intravenous therapy is a method whereby fluids are pumped back directly into fighters' bodies through their veins rather than orally. It's how fighters have replenished after weight cuts for years and it's very dangerous indeed to suddenly deny competitors that method after they have become somewhat reliant on it. I don't believe that IVs should be banned because, in my eyes, it is actually putting fighters' health at stake as they are essentially being told that they cannot rehydrate in the most effective way possible and brain trauma would become much more prevalent in the octagon. The IVs should be made available to fighters who are feeling ill after the cut but with my aforementioned supposition, i.e. that fighters never cut more than 15 lbs of weight prior to weigh-ins, the fighters wouldn't need the IVs to replenish half as often as they do nowadays. Come back next week when we re-imagine a setting more suitable than a cage for mixed martial arts bouts.