The California State Athletic Commission announced its intention to begin canceling bouts if a competitor weigh more than 15 percent above the contracted fight weight on the day of the event. The new rule passed unanimously, 5-0, on Tuesday.
The hope is to reduce dangerous weigh-cuts and avoid severe dehydration and injury, as well as make fights more equal. Previously, the CSAC has recommended fighters who gain more than 10 percent of their body weight to move up a division, but the recommendations are largely ignored and division changes rarely enforced.
Under the new regulation, a welterweight (171 pounds) tipping the scales over 195.4 pounds on fight day would lead to the bout being scrapped. For bantamweight (136 pounds), the maximum limit would be 155.2 pounds.
According to CSAC, ten percent of bouts this year saw at least one fighter come in over 15 percent of the division weight limit (28 out of 285 bouts). By comparison in boxing, only 9 out of 570 bouts saw fighters exceed 15 percent of their division weight limit (1.5 percent). If UFC 241 had been held under the new rules, three fights on the card would have been canceled, as Sodiq Yusuff, Manny Bermudez and Sabina Mazo all gained more than 15 percent of their weight on fight day.
The Commission estimates the new rule will take about a year to implement. Critics warn it could lead to fighters not fully rehydrating before bouts, or go through a second weight cut on fight day.
