Weight-cutting: A danger in combat sports

Kristen King // Staff Writer

Losing an excessive amount of weight through dehydration and dieting in a short period of time looks as bad as it sounds. In the fight business, this is known as weight cutting and it’s done by fighters who want to achieve a goal weight in order to perform in a specific weight class.

One of the great features about combat sports is that any and every one can perform. Men, women and sometimes children can compete in these sports but they are typically limited to one weight.

This is done to ensure that two athletes are competing against an equal counterpart. This way, there’s little chance of one of the athletes having a significant weight advantage over the other.

There are different names for these weight classifications. They start as low as atomweight, which means that a person weighs less than or at least 105 pounds, and end as high as heavyweight, meaning that a person weighs less than or at least 265 pounds.

Now, having these divisions in weight seems like a fantastic idea to reinforce the fairness of these sports, but the problem lies in the manner in which some of these athletes get down to their designated weight goal.

FIU student Natalie Banos said: “I don’t think rapid weight changes can be good for the body. Most of the methods are too severe and unhealthy, which can make the person sick. I don’t even think it can improve these people’s performances.”

She’s right. In fact, weight cutting gives an athlete the worst disadvantage there is in combat sports. According to a memo published by the California State Athletic Commission, almost 40 percent of athletes enter their fight dehydrated, which puts them at risk of injury and imbalance within the body.

“The worst part about cutting weight is trying to go back to your regular self. You go from one extreme in losing a severe amount of weight to another extreme in trying to gain it all back which causes even more problems,” said nutritionist and former bodybuilder Nancy Sneed.

From brutal injuries, fainting before fights and death, fighters subject themselves to these risks for the sake of the sport and something must be done to change these ways.

FIU, thankfully, does not promote this extreme measure of weight loss for their sports. Instead, the University offers a healthier alternative that just began at the start of this year.

In January, a group of doctors lead by Dr. Zaher Nuwayhid, initiated a weight management/bariatric surgery program through the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, which will help people lose weight in the healthiest way possible.

“I think having this program at FIU shows how much we care for the health of our students and community. We have some combat sports clubs at the school and I would hope they don’t have to weight cut for competitions or tournaments,” said FIU student Edrik Bandez. “If they did, I would want them to use a program like this just to make sure that they are 100 percent healthy.”

By having a program like this, we are already taking one step to promote safer and healthier alternatives for athletes and people alike who wish to get down to a desired weight. If we continue to do this, hopefully it will spark a change that goes beyond collegiate lines and into professional sports.

These athletes are putting their lives and bodies on the line to fight. The least we, as spectators and fans, can want for them is to guarantee they are at their healthiest when they go into battle.

Kristen’s Corner is a column focusing on issues that affect students interested in sports. For questions, commentary or suggestions, email Kristen at kristen.king@fiusm.com.