It has been two years since I last wrote about a weight cutting-related tragedy in mixed martial arts. Leandro Souza died in 2013 after he passed out while cutting weight for an MMA event in Brazil. Since then, the Ultimate Fighting Championship and other MMA organizations have seen some fighters pulled from cards due to weight cutting-related complications, including UFC 192 co-headliner Johny Hendricks, who was hospitalized for kidney stones. On Friday, a 21-year-old fighter died after reportedly trying to cut weight for a One Championship event in the Philippines.
I have said for many years now that the top three health-related problems facing MMA today are, in no particular order, performance-enhancing drugs, concussions and weight cutting.