Combat Sports Law

Although Ohio has recently gone against the grain by adopting same day weigh ins for pro-am MMA events, the regulatory standard is quickly becoming moving weigh ins further back from events to allow athletes greater time to rehydrate with a view to reducing rates of injury and death.

Sherdog reports that Brazil’s Athletic Commission (CABMMA) is the latest to adopt the change of early weigh ins first spearheaded by California, and followed by Ontario, Kansas, and the Mohegan Department of Athletic Regulation.  Nevada is also considering adopting this reform. Marcelo Alonso reports as follows for Sherdog:

Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission Director Cristiano Sampaio indicated that future Ultimate Fighting Championship events in Brazil will follow the new weigh-in protocols — fighters will weigh in 30 hours before the event — that were adopted for UFC 199 in Los Angles and UFC Fight Night “MacDonald vs. Thompson” in Ottawa, Ontario.

“Actually we’ve been doing that in Brazilian promotions since 2015,” Sampaio told Sherdog.com. “We did it in Shooto, Max Fight and 1st Round Combat. The test runs were really positive. Now, we’re in the final stage of setting up protocols and doing the same for UFC events in Brazil. I talked with the UFC right after the Curitiba event [on May 14], and our plan is to start using the new guidelines for the upcoming UFC event in Brasilia.

“We were really impressed by the excellent results we got at the Brazilian events,” he added. “The athletes are not gaining more weight by having more time to rehydrate. They actually get rehydrated in a correct manner — slowly and homogenously — so the fighters are in much better condition to compete the day of the fight; they’ve had more time to rest and feed themselves better. That doesn’t even mention the visual side of it for the media and fans. It’s definitely a great step for the sport.”

According to a Combate.com report, the next UFC event in Brazil is slated for Sept. 24 in Brasilia. The UFC has not yet confirmed the date.