Diego Brandao really misses weight at UFC 168
Diego Brandao stepped on and off the scale at the UFC 168 weigh-ins as if nothing was wrong, problem was there was something wrong.
The Ultimate Fighter season 14 winner weighed in seven pounds over the allowed 146-pound limit for a featherweight non-title fight. His opponent, Dustin Poirier was none to happy with the scale tipping at 153 lbs. and let Brandao know it as the two faced off.
Unfortunately The nonchalant attitude Diego Brandao displayed at the UFC 168 weigh-ins are nothing new to MMA. The catchweight division gets used far too often and are one of those issues that seem to get overlooked in the grand scheme of things. Granted it’s not as big as TRT or the judging in the sport but missing weight is unacceptable.
Fighters missing weight by as much as Diego Brandao did is a slap in the face of the sport and utterly disrespectful to the fighters who were professional enough to actually show up on weight. The fact that fighters don’t seem to care if they miss weight says to me that the punishment doesn’t bother them enough to keep them on point.
Punishment for missing weight depends on the athletic commission overseeing the event but for UFC 168, Brandao will be forced to forfeit 25% of his purse to his opponent and the NSAC (12.5% each). Now I don’t know about you but I’d be pretty pissed if I was to lose 25% of my paycheck, so why wasn’t Diego Brandao?
Obviously the punishment for missing weight doesn’t scare fighters enough so it’s time to up the consequences. Make these fighters respect the rules and if they don’t, make them pay. Respect the sport and make weight!
Diego Brandao ended up officially weighing in at 151.5 lbs. after his second attempt on the scales. That was still five and a half pounds over.
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- protein | August 7, 2014
Not sure why the organization should get a 50/50 split of the penalty given that it’s the opponent that is placed at a disadvantage. And after the first pound, the overweight party should forfeit 10% per pound to his opponent after the first pound leeway. In Brandao’s case, based on the final weigh-in of 6.5 lbs. over, he should fork over 55% of his purse to Poirier. That would provide a major incentive to make weight.
The UFC doesn’t get any of the money, it was the Nevada state athletic commission that did. I like your idea of losing more the more over weight you are.