After the death of flyweight Jianbing Yang earlier this month, One Championship has adopted a new policy to prevent its athletes from cutting massive amounts of weight prior to a fight.
The new program, which will take effect in January, is designed to eliminate dehydration from the weight-cutting process by having fighters compete at their “walking weight.” Athletes under One Championship contract will be subject to “multiple weigh-ins and tests before and during fight week, including three hours before an event begins.”
Many fighters in MMA compete 20 pounds and then some below their normal day-to-day weight, making for dangerous, and sometimes life-threatening, weight cuts.