What's
the natural weights?
Tito
Ortiz weighs in at 205lbs the day before to make the light-heavy limit, then enters
the ring at 225. Matt Hughes walks into the ring approximately 20lbs heavier than
the legal weight of 24 hours earlier. Mma is seeing exactly the same problem that
we've long seen in pro boxing and amateur wrestling: two guys weigh in at the
same limit but they're not the same size in the ring. This leads to unfair matches,
and sometimes health risks.
This
isn't boxing, where a combination of dehydration to make weight, 12 rounds of
head punches, and hot television lighting can lead to fatalities. But you can
see talented fighters ruined by constantly facing guys who are too heavy. It was
cool to see Royce submit Dan Severn in the olden days, but its not so cool to
see Sakuraba ruined by oversized Vanderlei and Crocop, or Bob Sapp crush somebody
literally half his weight. Aside from the rights and wrongs of it, what does it
mean for what goes on in the ring?
The
absolute golden rule is: A good big man beats a good little man. When the
big man is a heavyweight its even more pronounced, so that an average big man
beats a good little man. And don't be fooled by Roy Jones spanking John Ruiz.
That was an exceptional little man against an awful big man.
You
lose power when you move up
Its
not so pronounced in boxing, where a guy can lose his kayo punch just by moving
up 6lbs. But in mma you are still fighting guys with a bigger natural bone structure.
That means they take the punches better, they put more behind them, and it just
wears you down having a bigger man lying on top of you. In the stand-up game,
the little guy still has the speed advantage, but that doesn't count for much
on the mat. If you've eaten your way to the higher division then its like fighting
with dead meat strapped to your limbs.
Very
very rarely you'll see a little guy beat up top big guys. Igor Vovchanchyn made
a career of it, but then we've never seen him at light-heavyweight. When a match
is announced with one guy moving up more than one division, make sure he's got
a huge skill advantage before you put money on him. When a fighter keeps fighting
bigger guys, bear in mind that he's gonna suddenly turn old overnight sometime.
You
lose resilience and endurance if you move too far down
Dropping
the puppy fat to squeeze into the lower division is good. It's almost unbelievable
to think UFC middleweight champ Bustamante used to fight (and win) as a heavyweight.
But then again, he was beating guys like Joe Charles. The big issue comes if you
cut weight the Tito way: dehydration, starvation and saunas. Then it's an exact
science and any misjudgement will haunt you in the ring. Typically, endurance
goes way down, the chin isn't as tough as is used to be, and after 5 minutes or
so the fighter looks like he's moving underwater. Not good.
Seeing
a guy cutting weight who doesn't have weight to cut, as a few questions:
-
Is he cutting the weight carelessly?
-
Is the fight gonna be under strong lights?
-
Is his opponent likely to be able to make the fight go a long time?
If
the answer is yes to any of those, start thinking the natural little guy has a
better shot. And if a guy keeps moving up and down the divisions, count on him
having a short career.
Are
they in the same weight class, or are the scales telling a lie?
If
you're not able to catch the weigh-in (where a pale and drawn face is a give-away),
then you probably won't figure this out until they are standing face to face for
the referee instructions. So the best indicator is the guy's fight team and his
past history. Amateur wrestlers usually cut weight like maniacs, whereas BJJ guys
don't seem to go for it. Ricco Rodriguez has probably never seen a set of scales
before while Tito probably has one tied under each foot.
When
you know a guy has cut weight, try to find out how much. In the heavyweights it
doesn't matter. From middle to light-heavy, anything more than 20lbs is risky.
Below middleweight and 20lbs is downright dangerous.
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