I dunno i get why he’s done it, like he said its unfair to keep beating future contenders when he isn’t gonna be fightin Anderson any time soon again. But like some ppl already said the LHW division is rammed wit some top fighters and i dunno if Rich can cut it. He seems like a guy who loves to be top of the game and Rampage is way too powerful, i think Lidell is too, as well as some of the guys waiting in the wings like Rashad Evans. Hopefully i’m wrong cos Rich is such a likeable fighter, you know he’s putting everything into it 7 days a week to be at his best, but thinking with my head instead of my heart i can’t see him becoming an established LHW. Althoguh i do see him ruining Hamill. Hamill’s too slow, Rich will avoid the takedown and then just keep taking shots till Hamill’s out cold or the ref gets in the middle.
If there is one thing I would like to see with the weight classes it would be a stricter enforcement of the weight classes, like they do with high school wrestlers.
It would create closer competition, because you wouldn’t have guys who normally weigh 30 pounds more than their classes weight limit, go on a crash water loss program for the weigh in, then balloon back up to their normal size for the fight and use the extra size and strength to demolish guys who are fighting at their normal bodyweight.
Ya I think a few people around here have asked about the idea of weigh-ins being same day in order to help eliminate some of that. I’ve never seen a real discussion on it though and I’ve never competed with that aspect involved (my competition days were all denoted by belt rank and basically the big guys and the little guys in TKD in the WTF).
I’d love to know more about the pros and cons of both sides of that discussion.
What I think would be good would be for the fighters to be within a range of their weight 1,2,3 and 4 weeks before. With the range narrowing as the fight got closer. Also there should be weigh in the day before and the day of.
If you ever watch TUF some of these guys are spending multiple hours on the treadmill and in the sauna two days before a match in order to make weight. Then when the fight day comes these guys look haggared and their energy levels are lowered from all the aerobics and the time in the sauna.
A lot of people don’t realize it but sweating is not an energy neutral activity, it takes a lot of energy for the body to push sweat out.
I think it would bring up the level of competition, because fighters wouldn’t be going through all that exertion right before they fight. It would also create a more level playing field.
[quote]Sifu wrote:
If there is one thing I would like to see with the weight classes it would be a stricter enforcement of the weight classes, like they do with high school wrestlers.
It would create closer competition, because you wouldn’t have guys who normally weigh 30 pounds more than their classes weight limit, go on a crash water loss program for the weigh in, then balloon back up to their normal size for the fight and use the extra size and strength to demolish guys who are fighting at their normal bodyweight. [/quote]
Yeah but how many guys are actually fighting at their normal bodyweight? Very few.
True. But it makes the weight classes meaningless when guys who normally are one or two weight classes heavier can go on a crash weight loss for one or two days and shoehorn themsleves into a smaller weight class the day before they fight, then rebound back up to a heavier class the day of the fight. It reduces the importance of skills while raising the ability to temporarily manipulate body weight.
Dont be silly.
Cutting weight is a skill.
like all skills it requires allot of practice.
to do it safely and accurately- its a skill.
and you have to practice it.
Just like any other skil.
Like it or not its part of the game, and every one does it.
be it Judo Boxing, Muy Thai, wrestling or MMA.
In HS and college its regulated, and you do weigh in 1/2 to an hour before you compete.
and you have gravity (hydration) and urinalysis in college.
But do you think guys who cut 12 lbs plus
two th three times a week, dont train this like other skills?
Because that is exaclty what we do.
you practice drills, etc, you have practice cuts.
the only difference is in the professional fight world - is they get paid to cut-
to endorse something that might not be healthfully done all the time.
Cutting is built in to the sports, like it or not.
But do not think, it is not a skill-
If you want someone who does not cut
Tony Sauza- he is good, talented,
but does not cut, and his performance suffers.
to be on topic-
I am surprised that Rich Franklin is moving up. I thought he had commented recently about being less bulky- to stay a middleweight?
He has to eat and has to work.
kmc
I am really looking forward to this. I think 205 is a much more competitive division for someone of Rich’s skill level. Glad he fighting in Atlanta too, watching it live is going to be swuh-eet.