Home Categories Miscellaneous Was it Worth the Weight?: The ‘Nightmare’ Effect of Weight-Cutting on a Fighter’s Career
Was it Worth the Weight?: The ‘Nightmare’ Effect of Weight-Cutting on a Fighter’s Career
Written by Miles Hackett   
Friday, 01 January 2010 22:58
The issue of weight-cutting as a ‘quick fix’ to a fighter’s divisional troubles came to me as an interesting subject for discussion following B.J. Penn’s destruction of Diego Sanchez at UFC 107. Not to take anything away from Penn’s phenomenal performance, but it’s hard for me to sit back and honestly say that Diego Sanchez’s transition to 155 has been a wise move for his career. Sanchez’s drop was inspired by two back-to-back defeats and the allure of physical advantages (strength and conditioning) he would supposedly hold over his fellow competitors at lightweight. But where have those advantages been displayed? Certainly not in his last three fights, which I will get to, but first, let’s take a stroll down memory lane..


At 170 pounds, Diego Sanchez’s strengths lied in his quickness, torrid pace, and his scrambling abilities which were certainly enhanced by his smaller stature in relation to his larger competition. Sanchez’s only defeats at 170 came to Josh Koscheck (where Sanchez’s performance was effected by a serious staph infection), and Jon Fitch (a split decision contest that can arguably be scored for Diego). If we neglect the Koscheck fight and focus on the Fitch bout, where Diego was healthy, we get a better idea of how he performed against top-level competition at 170 with his skills and size “disadvantage”. So let’s start there.

When revisiting this contest which took place at UFC 76, it becomes apparent that Jon Fitch’s size and strength, granted him the ability to outwrestle Diego, consequently placing him in top position, which North American judges seem to swoon for. Fitch rarely passed guard, was in trouble with early arm-bar (in the 1st), as well as a guillotine and triangle-choke (in the 3rd), and never came close to stopping Diego. Needless to say, like many other Fitch bouts, this fight was decided based-on his ability to control an opponent. Ultimately, this fight told us that Diego Sanchez’s issue at 170 pounds was against larger opponents who could control him with their size and strength, and he recognized that, opting to put on some muscle mass for his next contests at 170.

The results were positive. Sanchez improved his strength and conditioning programs, which added to his arsenal of speed and tenacity, leading him on to decimate David Bielkheden and Luigi Fioravanti in impressive fashion. Following these dominant performances, Sanchez was scheduled to fight Thiago Alves at UFC 90, but pulled out with an injury two weeks before the fight . Shortly thereafter, the announcement came: Diego Sanchez was moving to 155. Cue my confusion, as only 8 months prior to this decision, Sanchez had stated the following:

“[...] I'll never go down to 155. I did consider it, but it's hard because my true weight class for my body type would be 163. I'm too big for 155. If I made that drop I would have to sacrifice too much muscle. Right now I'm walking around at 177, but a very lean 177. I was very real with myself after the Jon Fitch fight and I knew that I had to make these adjustments.” (MMAMania, February 2008)

Did the prospect of fighting the enormous Alves deter Sanchez from continuing his successful run at 170? Perhaps, but that’s unsubstantiated speculation. The real question is why would Diego’s previous concerns about losing muscle suddenly change within a 6 month span? Did he have Vince from ShamWow as his manager? He must have, because for some reason, Diego was convinced that moving to 155 wouldn’t affect him negatively, in fact, it would give him “advantages” in conditioning and strength, which would allow him to “focus on his technique” -- as he stated, prior to his UFC 95 contest with Joe Stevenson.

These theoretical advantages, in this writer’s eyes, have not been worth the weight Diego has had to lose, and have taken away from his ability as a fighter, more than anything. The speed and scrambling edge Diego held over most welterweights was sacrificed for the sake of being bigger and stronger. But is he stronger? If he is, it’s negligible. In his debut fight with Joe Stevenson, Diego had all but one of his four takedown attempts stuffed. In fact, Diego was more successful with his takedowns against the larger Jon Fitch. Against Clay Guida, an ideal opponent for Diego to flaunt his new found strength and size advantages over, Sanchez was taken down twice, struggled to get back to his feet, and had his scrambling ability stifled by the relentless pace and  of control of “The Carpenter”.  Again, he was more successful at initiating scrambles against Fitch because of the advantage in speed that his size afforded him; a trait that separated him from his fellow welterweights, but is negated by his equally quick opponents at lightweight.

I won’t delve into his performance against Penn, as it’s truly a pointless endeavour. Diego lost a kickboxing match with a fighter on a level that few can even dream of reaching. Penn has stuffed the takedowns of the best MMA wrestlers in the world a weight-class above his ideal stature with ease, so evaluating Diego's inability to get Penn to the mat is irrelevant. But back to the point; Diego Sanchez should not be fighting at lightweight. He (and his management) made the wrong decision with his career by dropping to a division where his stylistic advantages at 170 have become ordinary traits among almost all of his competition at 155. Simply put, his wrestling and pace does not translate as well at 155, whereas at welterweight his size enabled him to out-hustle and out-scramble larger opponents, making him a unique threat.


Diego is among many fighters who have faced the issue of weight. “Should I bulk-up, or should I drop down?” seems to be the commonly asked question, and unfortunately, most fighters are quick to pick the latter solution, simply because of conceived advantages to being larger. Another fighter who was in the same situation as Diego was Rashad Evans. At UFC 78: Validation,Rashad Evans fought Michael Bisping in the main event, and both men were finally facing an opponent roughly comparable in size. Evans emerged the victor via split decision, and Michael Bisping hastily decided to drop to 185 (even though it was his first loss at light-heavyweight). Obviously not satisfied with just squeaking by with a split decision, Evans realized that he faced the same problem at 205 as Bisping, but he took the alternate route. The subsequent two times we saw Rashad (at UFC 88 and 92), he had visibly packed on some muscle mass and undoubtedly performed better than ever (notably against two large 205ers – Liddell and Griffin).


You may be wondering where I’m going with this point, so I’ll cut to the chase. Fighters need to recognize two things:

1) That there is more than just the option of cutting off a leg to become physically more comparable to your opposition.

2) That being “small” for your division is not necessarily a disadvantage. Rashad is a prime example of a fighter considered as such, working hard enough in the gym to maintain his speed advantage, while building significantly upon his strength, leading him to become a drastically more effective fighter in his weight-class.

Of course, there are the B.J. Penn’s and Thiago Alves’ of the MMA world who truly do benefit from cutting weight, but it’s important to recognize that it’s a mneuver that does not always necessarily breed positive results for a fighter’s career. However, it seems to be the most commonly taken route by fighters wandering the labyrinths of their minds, searching for easy answers to solve the holes in their games – holes exploited by their opposition.

Diego Sanchez is but one example of many fighters that have faced or are facing this dilemma, and the problem isn’t being helped when we hear influential figures and MMA media pundits pointing out that a fighter is “small” for their respective division and that they are “better suited to [insert the next lowest weightclass]”, especially once they lose for the first time in their current division. The careers of many popular fighters have seemingly been directed by comments like these in the past, and the results have been mixed.  At the moment, one fighter whose stature is constantly being questioned, perhaps more-so than any other fighter in the sport, is Frankie Edgar.

It seems as though every time Edgar is inside the octagon, Goldberg and Rogan feel the need to emphasize the obvious size difference between him and his opponents – check out his fights with Gray Maynard and most recently, Matt Veach. This isn’t a muscleman pageant, this is a combat sport. Edgar despite his size is a top-contender in the UFC LW picture and it’s because he’s been able to turn his perceived “disadvantage” of being small to his advantage. He, like Rashad Evans, has recognized that the path to success in one’s fighting career is not necessarily through quick-fix solutions like dropping in weight, but developing your technique and strength through even more rigorous training.

Since being “bullied” by Maynard, Edgar has reinvented his stand-up in accordance with his size. Instead of moving to the frequently suggested featherweight division where he’d be larger, Edgar has diligently developed his footwork and general movement, improved his strength and conditioning program, and focused on his ground game, thus becoming a much more difficult fighter for wrestlers at 155 to get a hold of, keep down, and generally deal with.

At the end of the day, dropping to a lower weight-class is something that should require serious deliberation and can generate just as many negative ramifications as positive results. Frankie Edgar provides the answer to fighters in the same situation as him, as he’s quite obviously trying everything he physically can to take himself to the next level, building into his supposed disadvantage, instead of instantly taking the quickest and most traveled road for an undersized fighter – moving down.

It’s not just fighters who need to seriously approach this issue from a more patient and diplomatic stance, as we, the fans are equally responsible for doing so too. Passing comments in relation to this issue from the broadcast booth need to be employed more cautiously and members of the MMA media need to follow suit with our criticism. The fact is, these fighters are already incredibly critical of themselves and their abilities. They watch more tape on themselves than anyone, they read-up on what we’re saying about them (whether they admit it or not), and we do influence the decisions they make with their careers and, ultimately, their lives. It’s not too late for Diego Sanchez, and his trials and tribulations (in my opinion) with this prevalent matter in our sport should be viewed as a lesson to other fighters struggling with the very same issue weighing on the backs of their minds.