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Weight cutting is the practice of fast weight loss prior to a sporting competition. The reason to cut weight is to be able to fight or compete in a certain weight class. The sport where weight cutting is the most prominent is MMA. There are two types of weight cutting: one method is to lose weight in the form of fat and muscle in the weeks prior to an event; the other is to lose weight in the form of water in the final days before competition. Common methods to cut weight include restricting food intake, water-loading, and perspiration through exercise, wearing a sweatsuit, and/or sitting in a sauna. It is not uncommon that a fighter loses a large percentage of their bodyweight in a very short timeframe. There are certain UFC fighters who do it, but most do not. They still cut weight, but less relative to their fellow professional MMA fighters.

The lengths they go to in order to drop their bodyweight rapidly are drastic. Typically, the sauna is used and if necessary, a large trash bag or a sauna suit. A typical length of time in the sauna is at least a few hours, if not more. It dries out their bodies by drawing the water out, leading to severe dehydration. Normally, that method doesn't cause any great physical harm. However, there are fighters who hurt themselves.

The physical stress of cutting weight
Darren Till previously fought in the welterweight class, where the upper limit is 170 pounds. His nickname is "The Gorilla" because naturally, his bodyweight is 210 pounds. He did not make weight in several of his fights, causing him to earn less money than if he made weight. While preparing for his fight against Stephen Thompson, he went temporarily blind during his weight cut. As a last resort, he did a colonic irrigation to shed the last three pounds. While walking to the grocery store, he collapsed, losing his vision. Another fighter who underwent severe weight cuts is Khabib Nurmagomedov. He is now retired. But when he was fighting, he regularly cut a massive amount of weight. He fought in the lightweight class where the upper limit is 155 pounds. He always began cutting weight when he was close to 190 pounds. On fight night, he weighed around 180 pounds from rehydrating and recovery.

Before advances in nutrition and changes to the UFC's rules, there weren't any known methods of cutting weight. In the early days of MMA, every fighters' weight cut was not guaranteed to be enough to lose the required weight. The only methods were an ice bath, the sauna and chewing ice cubes. Since it was the younger days of combat sports, there wasn't enough information to undergo a weight cut as safely as possible. The most common way was severe dehydration. It is still used nowadays. It is not as simple as drinking no water. It has to be a different kind of dehydration. Sodium intake is restricted so that the water in muscle and fat tissue is drawn out and depleted. Often, a fighter combines a few ways and will restrict water intake for at least a day up to almost a week. Another way used is sweating, but actively. Fighters can use exercise to shed weight more easily. Typically, an exercise bike or a treadmill is used, spending an hour or more exercising to sweat body weight off.

The primary reason why fighters undergo weight cuts
It is hard to justify depriving yourself of water and/or food; it is normal that a fighter sharply eats quite a bit less than is normal and drinks very little water. It can do damage over time. Trying to explain to someone who is not an MMA fan or just doesn't know about weight cutting is tricky. They'd probably be confused and ask lots of questions. The main reason why fighters drain themselves and cut weight is to have a size and power advantage. When a UFC fighter weighs in at say 155 pounds (the lightweight division), they are that weight for about a few hours. Afterwards, they re-compensate and re-hydrate up to a larger bodyweight. Dustin Poirier regularly drops from 180 or 185 pounds down to lightweight. He used to cut down to featherweight, where the limit is 145 pounds. On the night of the fight, he weighs close to 180 pounds.

How fighters drop weight quickly
Combat sports athletes shed weight via a few methods. But, there a few very important ones. They include controlling the gut content through caloric restriction(by fasting or taking in a small amount of fibre), restricting carbohydrate consumption (normally over a week long timeframe) and a sharp reduction in water within the body, using sometimes severe dehydration.