California commission to submit plan cracking down on extreme weight cutting

The California State Athletic Commission has devised a plan to crack down on extreme weight cutting.

The CSAC's executive officer Andy Foster intends to submit a 10-point reform of the practice to its Medical Advisory Committee during a meeting scheduled this Saturday in Los Angeles, according to MMA Fighting's Marc Raimondi, citing a document published to the commission's website. The plan's fate will be determined with a commission vote on May 16.

One standout of the 10-point proposal is a weight check on fight night that would determine if fighters have regained over eight percent of their weight since the previous day's weigh-ins. The commission may not cancel the bout, but could order competitors to move up in weight for their next fight should the limit be exceeded.

The plan includes the implementation of new weight classes - with 10 pounds separating each from 125 to 205 pounds - dehydration checks, and weight checks 30 and 10 days out from title bouts. Fighters who come in overweight more than once would also be obligated to change divisions.

Also in the commission's overhaul is a rule that would fine overweight fighters 20 percent of their win bonuses in addition to their fight purses, with the entire sum going to their foes, as opposed to the customary even split between them and the commission.

Extreme weight cutting has been known to inflict long-term damage on fighters' vital organs, and while the UFC's newly implemented early weigh-ins give its athletes more time to rehydrate, the results have proven a mixed bag. Just three months into 2017, a handful of UFC bouts have undergone weight-cut related changes on either weigh-in day or fight night.