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Is there an argument to be made that weight cutting harms the sport more than it helps?

Making weight. It’s a reality that most professional mixed martial artists face when it comes to fight time. You hear them talk about it; you see them train for it. Everyone wants that extra edge over their opponent as the stakes get progressively higher with every fight.

Watching the fighters train in the sweat suits, sit in the sauna and even going through the Lew Polley School of rubbing various chemicals on yourself and sitting in a bath, in order to vacate the last possible ounce of moisture from their body has become a normal thing to do when watching training videos.

It’s become commonplace. No one questions it.

But we definitely should. We should be asking why these fighters continue to risk their long term health for this practice. We should be asking why it is so acceptable to make a mockery of the weight divisions that have been established for fighter safety and to ensure a fair fight.

Fighters should compete in their own weight divisions, and to clarify what I mean by that, I mean their own natural weight divisions. No weight cutting, no killing themselves in the sauna or depriving themselves of food and water days before a fight. They should simply be competing at their own, natural fighting weight.

We venture into the farcical when Dana White can ask Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson how much he weighs on the night of his Welterweight (170 lb) fight with Dan ‘The Outlaw’ Hardy at Ultimate Fight Night 24, and gets an answer of “around 195”.

What is the point in weight classes at all if a fighter is allowed to fight a full two divisions below where they actually weigh after training camp (bear in mind fighters do not usually fully replenish their weight by fight time unless the cut is quite small)?

Johnson’s case isn’t the only example that could have been given. Western MMA in general has been plagued by fighters missing weight, under-performing and short-changing paying fans.

Names like Thiago Alves – who cuts from the 200 lb region to (sometimes unsuccessfully) make the 170 limit, and Jake Shields – using the excuse of having to cut 20 lbs in the last two days before his lacklustre UFC debut against Martin Kampmann, also spring to mind. The latter case even drawing the scorn of UFC President Dana White at the post fight press conference and former resulting in a threat of expulsion from the Welterweight division if further incidents happen.

The practice of weight cutting is prevalent throughout all of Western MMA and in my opinion continues to have a negative impact on the sport.

How often will we hear commentators notice the size difference between two fighters supposedly in the same division?

How often will we hear the same excuses about ‘the cut’ from losing or under-performing fighters?

Picture this:

UFC President Dana White issues a statement to the press that applies to both Zuffa owned organisations.

“From this day forward, all weigh-ins for any UFC or Strikeforce event will occur on the afternoon of the event being held.”

I believe that upon the hypothetical release of this statement, if all MMA journalists closed their eyes tightly and listened really closely, that they would hear 80-90% of the UFC and Strikeforce rosters simultaneously urinating on themselves a little.

So many fighters rely so heavily on cutting weight as a way of (fighting) life that I truly believe that they would tremble at the thought of that aspect of fighting being taken away. Many of these fighters, specifically those who have come through the American amateur wrestling programmes, consider it fundamental to their fight strategies.

What would happen if they were forced to contest fights without cutting any weight?

Before anyone who is in favour of weight cutting comes in and criticises me for my stance, consider the question:

Is it so terrible to want martial arts contests to be won or lost based on the skills and heart of the combatants, and not how much weight they can cut?

I don’t believe it is. In fact, I don’t believe it would actually alter the landscape of any division in MMA’s top companies much at all.

If all fighters are cutting weight anyway, then simply stopping them doing so would result in most of them moving up into the same divisions as each other. So you would get the same matchups, without the fighters being hampered by weight issues and they would then be able to dedicate 100% to actually training their technique. Right now the whole system is counter-productive; with everyone playing the same game a real advantage isn’t there to be had.

It would certainly separate the proverbial men from the boys in terms of who is actually at the top of the sport based on skill as opposed to lost moisture.

Careers would be longer as a result, the strain on their bodies would be decreased and the absence of spectre of the scales would mean fully focused and prepared fighters.

On top of the practicalities of it, a philosophical argument can be made. This is after all martial arts, and we can refer to the ideology of the East to ask questions about the conduct of an increasing number of practitioners worldwide.

What does it prove to beat a man smaller than you? Is there any honour in it?

Is the real honour not found in fighting men the same size or even larger than you are?

Of course, try telling that to a man trying to pay bills and support a family by fighting professionally. You most likely wouldn't receive a positive reaction from all beside the staunchest advocates of the bushido code of martial arts.

This is why we are even seeing fighters from the East begin the process of cutting weight now, in order to stay competitive at the world level. Even the likes of Kazushi Sakuraba, the legendary Japanese who was famous for punching (and wrestling) above his weight, has accepted that in order to find men his own size, he actually needs to cut down a division.

The main thing that the promoters of MMA can do is to make it easier for fighters to compete in the way that is befitting of a martial arts contest: honourably, with no shortcuts or cheap tricks.

This isn’t wrestling, boxing, nor is it any other sport. This is Mixed Martial Arts. These fighters should be expected to conform to a higher standard, one that is steeped in the centuries-old history of the disciplines in which they train every day. That will be what distinguishes real martial artists from ‘cage fighters’ or ‘ultimate fighters’. That attitude will elevate the sport and foster the right mentality within the youngsters being exposed to it and who will become the fighters and fans of the future.

Osu!

Follow Adil Qazi on Twitter @TheRealAdil and the Full Mount MMA Network @FullMountMMA

Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki has apparently been considering retirement following his KO loss to Yuichiro "Jienotsu" Nagashima at NYE Dynamite!! He has deleted his Twitter account due to incessant baiting from Nagashima fans via the social networking medium.

The bout was a freakshow contest where the first round was held under K-1 rules, Nagashima's preferred arena and the second round was to be under MMA rules. Aoki made a mockery of the K-1 segment by continually cheating to make it through to the second round, knowing his striking was far poorer than that of Nagashime but knowing his grappling was vastly superior.

Unfortunately for Aoki he came out and shot for a takedown at the start of the second round and ate a huge knee which knocked him out cold.

A humbled Aoki is now reported by sources close to him via mmafigting.com's Daniel Herbertson to be considering leaving competitive MMA. It is reported that he wishes to focus on training at the DEEP official gym.

However it is worth noting that Aoki has started up another Twitter account under the alias @jyotaronawo and DREAM intends to undergo a self imposed period of inactivity to allow it to restructure. What chance an Aoki return when DREAM emerges from its winter chrysalis? A rather large one one would assume, especially with what he considers to be unfinished business with Gilbert Melendez, the Strikeforce lightweight champion.

As we now know that the UFC and WEC will merge and the UFC lightweight champion and WEC champion will face a unification bout it becomes clear that this could be the last top level unification bout we will see.

As the UFC cements its place as the number one promotion in the world by adding the weight classes that it was "missing" it is also consuming the one entity which it considered to be on the same level as itself. The WEC.

When the UFC bought Pride FC it immediately set about organising title unifications. It was relatively easy as Dan Henderson held both the Pride middleweight title, which was the equivalent to the UFC light heavyweight belt, and the Pride Welterweight title, which was roughly equivalent to the UFC middleweight division. Henderson fought UFC LHW champ Quinton Rampage Jackson in a title unification bout which Rampage won, he also fought UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva to unify those two titles, another fight which he lost.

There remained two Pride titles which were held by fighters whose contracts the UFC had not acquired during the Pride buyout, the heavyweight and lightweight titles.

The Pride LW division was below 161lbs so not exactly the same as the UFC LW divisions 155lb limit but in any case the then Pride champion Takanori Gomi took just over a year out from MMA after his final Pride bout before eventually returning under the Sengoku banner. Had Gomi kept a clean record during the time between the end of Pride and his UFC debut in March of this year we may have gotten another UFC/Pride unification bout but alas it wasn't to be. Gomi lost 2 of 6 when outside of the UFC and Pride, including a Sengoku title fight. When he finally came to the UFC was given a top contender but not a title shot, losing to Kenny Florian via rear naked choke. The Fireball kid has rebounded since with a KO victory over Tyson Griffin.

The heavyweight Pride belt that also went un-unified was of course held by a certain Fedor Emelianenko. I'm not sure there is anything that can be written here that hasn't been discussed and re-discussed a thousand times on message boards and news websites across the internet but suffice to say this unification bout that never happened is easily the biggest gaping hole in the history of MMA match making.

Debate has raged since Fedor plumped for Bodog, then Yarrenoka before 2 fights with Affliction as to how the Last Emperor would do when faced with the UFC champions. Fedor of course remained unbeaten after Pride, defeating former UFC champions Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski along the way until Affliction folded on the back of Josh Barnett's failed drugs test.

At this point the prosepect of Fedor signing for the UFC became very real and according to various sources, not least Dana White himself, the Russian came tantalisingly close to signing up for an Octagon debut. It wasn't to be however as arguments over Sambo, money and of course M-1 Global cross promotion led to him signing for Strikeforce. Of course by this time Pride was long dead and even if he had signed with the UFC the prospect of the actual Pride belt being on the line was somewhat remote, every fan in the world would have known that a Fedor title fight in the UFC would have been for the honour of being the greatest heavyweight in the world and finally resting the ghost of Pride vs UFC to rest. That chance also slipped away however as Fedor decided to leave his head and arm in place for Fabricio Werdum to secure a triangle choke and secure an unlikey victory over the Last Emperor.

That of course leaves us with very few options for future unification bouts in MMA, Strikeforce, were it to fold and be consumed by the UFC would certainly not have its belts honoured by the UFC as seen by Jake Shields not getting an immediate title shot upon joining the UFC straight off the back of being a Strikeforce champion.

Dream and Sengoku unifications could be a possibility as the two Japanese promotions struggle along financially. The trouble is, none of their champions would be expected to beat the UFC champions. Even Shinya Aoki has struggled in the US, losing to Gilbert Melendez in his one Strikeforce fight.

So I implore everyone to savour the WEC vs UFC lightweight title unification fight, no matter who are the respective champions at the time Edgar/Maynard or Henderson/Pettis. The fight could well be the last time we see the champions of two of the accepted "heavyweight" organisations fighting for themselves and the honour of their respective promotions.

Andrew Simon, CEO of Hdnet Fights has announced via Twitter that Jason "Mayhem" Miller is to fight mma legend Kazushi Sakuraba at Dream 16 on 25th Spetember. http://twitter.com/andrewhdnet

Also on the card are Joe Warren v Omigawa and Mousasi v Mizuno for Light Heavyweight title. It is rumoured that this will be the last dream card until new years eve although Dream 17 is currently scheduled for October.

Miller had been aiming to fight Nick Diaz in a catch weight grudge match on the upcoming Strikeforce card. However with welterweight Diaz unable to add weight due to his triathalon training schedule the fight was never arranged and Diaz will now be fighting KJ Noons as reported here earlier.

Kazushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba is now 41 years old and is 2-3 in his last 5 fights. Miller is 29 years old and is 2-2-1 in his last 5 fights, however 2 of those fights were for The Dream and Strikeforce titles.

In a break from the usual MMA videos here is one of retired MMA star Genki Sudo performing in his new career as a pop star. Genki, known for his elaborate ring entrances throughout his career, especially during his stint in K-1 Heroes, has turned his talent for dancing and singing into his primary career. In this slightly odd video he is appearing on a Japanese TV show performing the song live and doing this kinda funky dance.

Whilst it's kind of hummable after a few listens I wish it was merely the prelude to Genki stepping into the DREAM ring for another mma run, he's only 32 afterall.

Aoki Submits Kawajiri in under 2 minutes of the first round by achilles lock. Shinya Aoki rebounded from his loss to Gilbert Melendez by successfully defending his Dream title, he took the fight to the ground immediately and went into full on limb snapping mode. He eventually cranked the ankle of his opponent right over and got the tap.

Gegard Mousasi also rebounded from his loss at Strikeforce by KO'ing Jake O'Brien quickly with a guillotine choke in the first too. O'Brien shot in for the takedown quickly and left his neck exposed which Mousasi latched onto and quickly choked him out.

Bellator's Roger Huerta Discusses Loss to Pat Curran and his Future from Hector Castro on Vimeo.

Amid the rumours flying around recently about Fedor facing Werdum in June for Strikeforce, the prospect of Fedor facing Japanese MMA legend and Olympic gold medalist Judoka Hidehiko Yoshida has been cropping up.

The Fedor vs Yoshida match has been passed around as a retirement match for Yoshida, but Strikeforce boss Scott Coker set the facts straight on who Fedor will be fighting next.

"M-1 Global and Strikeforce entered into a three fight contract exclusive for Fedor to fight in a co-promotion between Strikeforce and M-1 Global, and as you know we did the first fight on Nov 7 in Chicago," said Coker.

"Fedor is now scheduled to fight in June towards the end of the month in America against Fabricio Werdum."

Now that Fedor and Werdum have been confirmed, where does this leave the Yoshida match?

"I've heard the rumors as well, and as I know more I will let the media know in American, and let the media know here, but I believe that's just a rumor," said Coker.

While Strikeforce and DREAM have been hammering their partnership in recent months, it also leaves the prospect of Fedor returning to Japan and facing Josh Barnett once and for all.

DREAM Event Producer Keiichi Sasahara certainly hopes so. Speaking at the DREAM 13 post event press conference he mentioned his hopes of Strikeforce Champion Overeem facing Barnett, with the winner facing Fedor.

"Of course, belts will be involved so you can expect this year to be about Strikeforce vs. Dream and also titles on the line,"

With Japan's well known lack of an Athletic Commission, steroid abuse is a hot topic in the far east.

With Fedor refusing to fight Overeem unless he takes a steroid test, Barnett's past history with the performance enhancing drug and Yoshida in the mix, a match between Fedor and Overeem or Barnett may be further off than expected.