Athletes in the MMA world are beginning to realize the importance of maintaining a healthy weight and being well-conditioned for their fights, rather than trying to drop a significant amount of weight a few days prior. The UFC has also recognized this issue, leading to better weight management and healthier fighters overall.
Combat sports athletes have evolved in their approach, realizing that strategic energy conservation plays a key role in success during fights. Mental toughness and proper conditioning have become essential skills in today's competitions.
The UFC has started to realize the dangers and disadvantages of weight cutting, leading to a re-engineering of the process and the creation of different weight classes to avoid fighters missing weight or becoming too ill to fight.
Fighting athletes should not try to drop weight over the week leading to the fight. You’re better off dropping as much weight as you need to within the last 2-5 hours before stepping into the octagon, rather than losing moderate weight for five days, which causes prolonged depletion and severely affects performance.
A BBC documentary showed the suffering of a Liverpool MMA fighter as he prepares for a fight - from putting ice in his mouth to sweating in hot baths, and then having to perform in the ring with just 24 hours gap from the weigh-in.