ok we get it :)
Missing by a pound or two, the current punishments are fair enough.
But 6, it was embarrasment to the sport that Yoshida and Johnson fought. It was almost as ridiculous as some of the things you see in Japan. Johnson looked twice the size of Yoshida.
Miss weight 3 times = 8 month suspension
Had a bad episode with a fighter this weekend. We traveled out of state to get a bout at 140lbs and our fighter was small for 140 but its tough to get fights when youre sub-155 so he agreed to it. Promoter said he'd have someone for him at 140.
So of course the kid misses weight by 4lbs which when its that light a weight to begin with is a much bigger percent of your bodyweight than say a 205er weighing in at 209. So I could tell they and the promoter assumed we would accept it since we traveled for the fight and all.
Kid had a huge size advantage during the fight but we managed to get out of there with the win.
Missing weight happens. Sometimes a slight miscalculation leaves you stuck and desperate at 1-2lbs over and you just cant sweat any more.
But missing weight by 4 or more pounds is simply inexcusable.
Fighter who makes it should get his show money for fufilling his part of the contract.
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.
As the Director of Awesome , YOU ARE 100% correct!! And awesome!!
You cant just turn down a fight, lose your pay, sponsors and all the time you just put into training. I belive the fighter who misses weight should be on a strike system. 1 strike x% of your purse. 2 strikes x%+suspension 3 strikes x% and long suspension plus force you to fight in the higher weight class. Just a thought.
I agree there should be some sort of combination of punishments. First it should be a higher percentage taken from your purse and given to the other fighter, maybe 35-40%. If it happens twice in a row, or three times during your career, you should be banned at that weight class.
I like the idea of a point deduction too.
-Shaz!
perfy -we cannot penalize the offender too harshly or they may use some injury or fainting excuse to pull out of the fight altogether.
Why are we protecting the offender at all?? I would much rather the offender pull out of the fight and suffer the scrutiny/criticism/consequences of being unprofessional than the poor guy who did what he was supposed to and came in at the contracted weight.
Too often the guy who makes weight is the one who is under the spotlight and are often "forced" to fight and the offender gets off virtually scot free.
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.So the guy who has trained like crazy just "doesn't fight" because the other guy missed weight?
I am not saying that fights like Johnson/Yoshida or Hughes/Alves would have gone different but this is starting to get ridiculous.
so where does the money for food and bills come from? Seeing as how the guys don't get paid from their sponsors either if they don't fight.
Johnson missed a 60K bonus cuz he didn't make weight. I thought that was a cool precedence to set.
From a similar thread...
DJLastCall - What needs to happen is something drastic enough that no one would DARE miss weight.
My vote goes to a loss on the record.
You miss weight, you lose. Period.
Guy that made weight gets a win on his record, his show money, and should get a chance to pump his sponsors and be interviewed just like the fighters that competed.
If the guy that makes weight decides to fight at a catchweight: he should get 25% or better of the opponent's show purse. The other 75% should be donated to a local NutriSystem or WeightWatchers outlet.
That said...sanctioning bodies should also make the official scale available several hours before the official weigh-in ON THE SAME SPOT WHERE THE WEIGH-INS WILL BE HELD. I've fluctuated 2-3lbs on the same scale just by moving it into another room.
An idea would be for the Org. not to let the overweight fighter fight, he gets paid nothing. The guy who makes weight gets to fight a backup who has been arranged aheadu of time. He makes weight and takes the purse that the overweight dude would have got.
I think many fighters would prepare and make weight for the shot at a fight, especially in the UFC. Every weight class fighting should have one alternate.
The Sultan -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.So the guy who has trained like crazy just "doesn't fight" because the other guy missed weight?
I am not saying that fights like Johnson/Yoshida or Hughes/Alves would have gone different but this is starting to get ridiculous.
so where does the money for food and bills come from? Seeing as how the guys don't get paid from their sponsors either if they don't fight.
Johnson missed a 60K bonus cuz he didn't make weight. I thought that was a cool precedence to set.
i don't think Johnson would've even gotten a ko that quickly if he was on weight. Otherwise everyone would come in 6 lbs overweight since it'd make up for the penalty.
Don't sign a fight contract unless you feel the penalty for the other fighter missing weight is appropriate.
If you want fighters to take it seriously the penalty needs to be more severe than 20%. 50% at least would be better, but more is reasonable. But refusing the fight is not the answer. Everyone loses in that situation.
Just dont let them fight if they dont make weight . Have another opponent ready to step in in case one of the fighters misses .
There is no use in making weight if you get to go ahead and fight and get paid to fight a fighter who you are way heavier than at fight time. Too many times the fighter who made weight will lose and all that shows on his record is a loss.
I don't know the answer to this problem. In my case, $$$ always makes it mo' betta'. I once fought a dude that said he was 8 pounds over, but when he weighed in it was 10 pounds over. I wasn't present for the weighin, but after the show, I found out that the actual weight was almost 12 pounds over. That's pretty crazy. We were supposed to fight at 155.
In my case, I was fighting someone that was at least one weight class above mine, maybe even two depending on how much he tried to cut.
I got the guy's show money, which in essence made it where if he didn't win the fight, he wouldn't make anything. He would get his travel money and that's it. I won the fight easily, but if I hadn't won, I know I would have been real salty about it. The money made it a win win situation. Even if I lost, I would still get paid as if I won. If I won, I would get a NICE bonus on my purse.