Like it or not, weight-cutting is deeply rooted in mixed martial arts. MMA adopted its weight-cutting from the sport of wrestling, where it is presumed to be very advantageous to be the biggest and strongest in your weight class. Known as the ‘fight before the fight,’ most UFC fighters cut anywhere from 5-25 pounds, with some fighters even in excess of 30 pounds.
Weight-cutting is the ultimate test of discipline and willpower. Many fighters in the sport consider it very unprofessional to miss weight. In this series, we will shine a light on fighters who cut a massive amount of weight, who have missed weight multiple times in the past, who have made weight-class changes, along with how the weight-cut and weigh-in could affect possible upcoming match-ups. Basically, every aspect of weight-cutting and how it affects the fight game.
Honorable Mention this week:
Marcelo “El Pitbull” Rojo will be making his UFC debut at 145lbs at UFC Vegas 21 Saturday. Rojo’s last fight was at a catchweight of 139lbs, and a lot of the fights before that were at 135lbs. However his past shows he is a big guy and he has fought at featherweight and struggled with his weight too.
Jonathan “Dragon” Martinez (13-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC)
Bantamweight (135lbs): 3-2 (UFC), Missed weight 1 time
Featherweight (145lbs): 1-0 (UFC)
Jonathan Martinez is a 26 year old 5’8″ fighter that normally fights in the bantamweight division. But over the course of his professional MMA career dating back to 2014 he has fought in the flyweight division multiple times. ‘Dragon’ not only missed weight at 125lbs but ultimately fought in some catchweight 130lb bouts before ultimately moving up to bantamweight.
After a fight at bantamweight, Martinez was picked up by the UFC in 2018. Jonathan fought in the bantamweight division with the UFC without incident until his bout with Frankie Saenz in August of last year. Martinez missed weight for the bout coming in at 140.5lbs. Martinez won the bout in spectacular fashion late in the fight.
For Jonathan’s next and most recent fight, he competed in the featherweight division and defeated Thomas Alemdia by unanimous decision. Jonathan is looking to move back down to 135lbs at UFC Vegas 21 so he will definitely be a fighter to keep an watch on the scales.
