Israel Adesanya has a plan to stop fighters from missing weight.
UFC middleweight champion Adesanya scored a second-round TKO over Paulo Costa in the main event of UFC 253. Ludovit Klein missed weight for the event and subsequently defeated Shane Young, Adesanya’s teammate. A passionate Adesanya told UFC President Dana White at the conclusion of main event that fighters who miss weight should be fined 90 percent.
“It’s just cheating. I saw the guy that Dawodu fought right after,” Adesanya said after UFC 253 (via Milan Ordonez of Bloody Elbow). “With 90 minutes left, he’s on the blueberries and the water and whatnot. These guys, some of them are gangsters. Some of them are making money outside the UFC. Some of them have trust funds. 30 percent of their purse ain’t sh-t. But I’m telling you, if you fine someone 90 percent of your purse if you miss weight, I guarantee you, no matter how much money you’re making, no one’s go through this whole camp, through this whole sh-t and be willing to give 90 percent of their pay to the other guy. They will take that 90 minutes they had left to make the weight. They’ll take every second to make the weight.”
Klein wasn’t the only fighter to misses weight at UFC 253, as Zubaira Tukhugov also came in overweight for the event. Dana White agrees with Adesanya’s sentiment, but he says it’s up to the athletic commissions to punish the fighters who come in overweight.
“He’s not wrong,” White said. “But that’s not our place, it’s the Commission that handles that. But he’s not wrong. Take 80 or 90% of anybody’s money, they’re gonna show up the right way.”
The current punishment for a failed weight cut is a 30% of reduction in pay, which is then awarded to the person the overweight fighter is facing.
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