The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is now preparing to return to afternoon weigh-ins, rather than the highly debated early morning weigh-ins of the past two years. Now longtime mixed martial arts referee veteran turned Bellator commentator John McCarthy has come forward with a few words on the matter.
A total 62 fighters have missed weight for their octagon performances since early morning weigh-ins were implemented two years ago. Speaking on the podcast UFC Unfiltered, UFC President Dana White revealed that the promotion intended to return to afternoon weigh-ins as a result.
“Yes, I do think it’s (the early weigh-ins), and guess what? We’re getting rid of it. We’re looking at taking the weigh-ins back to the way they used to be so that when the (fighters) weigh in there at the (ceremonial weigh-ins), that will be it. That’ll be the real weigh-in.”
“Here’s what I believe: I believe any time you change something, everybody looks to take as much advantage as they can of the situation. And I think that when we started doing morning weigh-ins, it was very good – everyone was making weight and it was great. And then people started cutting it closer and closer, thinking they can put on more weight because they have more time to recover. The reality is, it (expletive) everything up.
“So we’re looking to go back to at 4 o’clock when we do the (ceremonial) weigh-ins, that will be the real weigh-ins. The other thing is, I don’t know any fighters that are morning people. Most of them stay up half the night and sleep half the day, so that might have something to do with the morning weigh-ins (being a problem), too. You have to get up early to make sure you’re on weight.”
“We’re going to work with (the athletic commissions) to get it done.”
Taking to Twitter, John McCarthy has decided to come forward to criticize the decision. Check it out below:
“It’s a huge mistake. Why is it you would change things for the small minority of fighters not doing things right, pushing the envelope of what their bodies can lose and penalizing all of the fighters who do it correctly? Does this make sense to you?”
It’s a huge mistake. Why is it you would change things for the small minority of fighters not doing things right, pushing the envelope of what their bodies can lose and penalizing all of the fighters who do it correctly? Does this make sense to you? https://t.co/nKvWDltUcV
— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) June 5, 2018
