It sucks for the fans, but I think guys need to start refusing to fight people who miss weight. This is really becoming a common occurrence the past few years in MMA and I think the precedent needs to be stopped.
I am not saying that fights like Johnson/Yoshida or Hughes/Alves would have gone different but this is starting to get ridiculous.
So they leave with no money after training, traveling and doing nothing wrong?
Terrible idea.
Zuffa will be pissed you don't fight.
You won't even have a chance at your win money.
Sponsor money is gone.
Not a real bright move to not fight... even if a guy does miss weight. However, the penalty for missing weight should be much greater.
And they need the $ from the fight. It's a really shitty situation.
edit: what he said ^
shut the fuuuuck up jesus christ.
I would agree with Joe on some of this PROVIDING fighting was the sole source of income for the fighter. If the fighter has a full time career and fighting isn't it then I see nothing wrong with walking away from the fight if an opponent misses weight.
You signed a contract, so did the opponent, you made weight, the opponent didn't. So now we are just going to renegotiate the contract last minute? Nah, don't think so. Take your show money and walk.
Bad career move? possibly but again, if you have a full time career and fighting is your past time, who cares? Gets a little more serious when you don't have a full time career outside of MMA though
lol @ this
a fighter refusing to fight for any reason would probably be cut from the UFC for one reason or another
LOL at anyone not thinking the contract you signed means shit. UFC will cut you, most likely but how many of the fighters out there will ever make it to the UFC to find out? Not many anyway. Lower level promotions make you sign contracts as well to meet at this weight or that weight. Your opponent violates the contract, fight's off, sorry. Is the fighter walking away a pussy, nope, not in the least bit. It's a business decision, just like it was to sign the contract for YOU BOTH to fight at 170, 185, 205 or whatever weight. Opponent violated the contract, take your show money and go home.
"Yeah and Zuffa will really love having to cancel the fight... not a smart career move."
Then maybe Zuffa should start implementing phased weigh ins for all their fighters leading up to a fight.
What benefit is it to Yoshida to get his head caved in by a guy 30lbs heavier then him for a one time pay day?
And Hughes could have easily refused the fight on all basis of Joe's argument. He didn't need the money, nor would he have been blacklisted by Zuffa.
Joe Lauzon - Terrible idea.
Zuffa will be pissed you don't fight.
You won't even have a chance at your win money.
Sponsor money is gone.
Not a real bright move to not fight... even if a guy does miss weight. However, the penalty for missing weight should be much greater.
What is the penalty for missing weight in the UFC? Is there a standard? I've seen in boxing where fighters have given up to 50% of their purse to their opponent for not making weight.
It's 50% of the purse, but for some of these guys that is peanuts.
Johnson should be forced to weigh in at a certain weight 30 and 15 days before his next fight as a penalty as should any other fighters who miss weight.
This shit is really getting out of hand. I hardly ever remember this happening a few years ago.
10% per lb over should be incentive enough for all to make weight (maybe a cap so the overweight guy doesn't go away with $0).
Cancelling fights is silly imo. That would be bad for the fans who miss out on watching the fight, the event as a whole as now there's one less fight and most importantly both fighters lose out, including the guy who did everything right, trained hard, made weight etc, all of a sudden now his training was for nothing and he doesn't get all of his $$$.
Even though Anthony missed weight, i had no problem with the fight to go ahead. It went exactly as it would have if he made weight. Yeh, it was shitty that he missed weight, but he paid the fine, apologised constantly and missed out on a huge KO of the night bonus. I think he got punished enough.
ignoring the business side of things, I think that if a fighter doesn't make weight then that fighter is DQed, gets no purse and the person that made weight gets the W as well as his purse.
No. It is not a good idea for the fighter to make a potential enemy out of the most powerful man in the sport by not going forward with a very important fight. It is up to the commission to decide whether it is appropriate for a match to continue. I would argue that the commission should have a very strict procedure regarding overweight fighters whereby if you miss by something like 5-10 pounds the fight will be called off and that you cannot have a catchweight established unless you give an appropriate amount of time for the other fighter to prepare (Something like a week or two).
bryanand - It sucks for the fans, but I think guys need to start refusing to fight people who miss weight. This is really becoming a common occurrence the past few years in MMA and I think the precedent needs to be stopped.
I am not saying that fights like Johnson/Yoshida or Hughes/Alves would have gone different but this is starting to get ridiculous.
We'll do it as soon as you set up a fund to pay our rent and feed our kids while we lose our payday and probably our contract.
Yoshida got 20% of Rumble's check. It was a business decision. Like the fighters above say, you just spent two to three months in camp. Gotta get paid.
If anything, jack it up from 20% to 40% or 50%. Honestly, the offending party failed to fulfill his contractual obligation to make the weight, so he's lucky to get anything.
Doyou really believe it is a case of "happening more often", or maybe there are just more MMA events and more press surronding them therefore the incidents are getting more press?
"We'll do it as soon as you set up a fund to pay our rent and feed our kids while we lose our payday and probably our contract."
LOL@this melodrama, I love how the burden shifts to the fans and not the other fighter or promotion that let this situation screw you out of a pay day.
Maybe the AC's should make the orgs fund this slush fund?
Joe Lauzon - Terrible idea.I think it should go this way.
Zuffa will be pissed you don't fight.
You won't even have a chance at your win money.
Sponsor money is gone.
Not a real bright move to not fight... even if a guy does miss weight. However, the penalty for missing weight should be much greater.
Accept the fight and you get 50% of your opponants pay. If your opponant wins a bonus, you also should get 50% of that.
I dont think it would be wise to say no I am not fighting because a) you screw yourself out of money, b) you screw the fans out of a fight, and c) you screw Dana which is definitly not a good decision.
Joe Lauzon - ...the penalty for missing weight should be much greater.