NSAC to Adopt Early Weigh-In Policy for UFC 200

The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), the USA's leading sports body, has given the green light for earlier weigh-ins for the UFC's International Fight Week in the lead up to UFC 200.

UFC fighters were first introduced to early weigh-ins earlier in June at UFC 199 in Inglewood, California. The Californian State Athletic Commission's decision to allow fighters to weigh in on the morning preceding the event was met with unanimous applause.

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold told the LA Times: "This is a great opportunity to change the game. It takes a lot of stress off the fighter, and I think it's the best you're going to see from me [Saturday night] by taking away this strain [of remaining on weight throughout the day]."

Due to the positive feedback, UFC Fight Night 89, the organization's first foray in Canada's capital city Ottawa, the local commission overseeing the event also trialled the morning weigh in. Again, the decision was universally praised. Montreal native Olivier Aubin-Mercier told TSN: "I really liked it. Now I'm going to go eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat, sleep and then go to the (public) weigh-in."

The argument is that morning weigh-ins allows fighters to rehydrate properly after a gruelling weight cut—a necessity following the United States Anti-Doping Association's (USADA) decision to ban intravenous (IV) rehydration following a weigh-in—an effort to stamp out any possible doping.

One of the toughest issues for fighters in their weight cut regimen is not shedding the weight itself—it's the wait for the early-evening weigh in before having the ability to rehydrate properly after stepping off the scale. UFC lightweight Dustin Poirier summed this up perfectly. "Usually, I have to make weight and wait all day… travel to the venue, travel back to eat. This is better for the sake of everybody."

This success encouraged the UFC to propose to the NSAC for a similar system for the weigh-ins throughout International Fight Week in early July—a run of three UFC events including Rafael dos Anjos vs. Eddie Alvarez (UFC Fight Night 90), The Ultimate Fighter finale and UFC 200.

The NSAC unanimously approved morning weigh-ins. Though, controversial commissioner Pat Lundvall stated her reservations about the risk of fighters cutting even more weight if they have an increased amount of time to rehydrate properly.

While early weigh-ins are in its infancy and is part of a pilot test, UFC vice president of athlete health and performance, Jeff Novitzky, echoed Lundvall's sentiments. "I think the early weigh-in has to happen in conjunction with moderate weight cuts. That's kind of the thing that we're looking at in the experimental phase. Does the early weigh-in encourage them to do even more drastic cuts, especially since it's taking place at the host hotel—it's very easy to walk downstairs, hop on the scale and then you can start eating and drinking again. So that's something we're taking a close look at. (But) we're really encouraged by what we've seen."

This will be particularly good news to a number of fighters who feature during UFC's International Fight Week, which begins on July 7th. The UFC 200 fight card, in particular, is jam-packed with competitors who have struggled with weight cuts in the past.

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who will headline the event against long-time rival Jon Jones, infamously missed out on the 2008 Olympics after suffering kidney failure induced by a poor weight cut. Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has also commented on the difficulty he's faced in making the 145lbs limit in the past, while former UFC heavyweight champion and current WWE superstar Brock Lesnar has to cut a considerable amount of weight just to make the maximum heavyweight limit of 265lbs.

Then there's the welterweight showdown between Johny Hendricks and Kelvin Gastelum. Both men have an extensive history of poor weight cuts and failing to reach their respective 170lbs weight limit. So much so, Hendricks himself was hospitalised ahead of his fight against welterweight title contender Tyron Woodley, having suffered an intestinal blockage and kidney stone attack while trying to make weight.

Early weigh-ins may be in its infancy. But, the signs shown so far are nothing but positive. The NSAC's decision to follow suit with this pilot is an encouraging sign that fighter safety and improved athletic performance is at the forefront of the USA's leading athletic commission's collective mind.