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CSAC Pass Emergency Weight Cutting rules, Including Bans on Dehydration,

2K views 20 replies 12 participants last post by  kantowrestler 
#1 ·
LOS ANGELES -- The California State Athletic Commission's war on dehydration and extreme weight cutting continued Tuesday.

CSAC passed a package of new, emergency regulations regarding weight cutting at its meeting in Downtown LA. The new rules include a ban on severe dehydration to make weight, the prohibition of IVs to rehydrate and the ability to move back the time of weigh-ins.

"Dehydration and weight cutting are the biggest problem facing mixed martial arts today," CSAC executive officer Andy Foster told the commissioners. "There are more mixed martial events in California than any other state, so this is the biggest problem facing this commission."

These rules can go into effect as early as March 1. Because these were emergency rules, they were added on a trial basis and will be revisited by the commission at a later date.

Multiple doctors involved in combat sports have pointed at dehydration to make weight followed by rapid rehydration as increasing the chances of concussions, traumatic brain injury, as well as susceptibility to knockouts and poor performance. Studies have shown a significant number of fighters enter a contest while dehydrated.

Perhaps the strongest language in the new CSAC rules is the outright banning of severe dehydration to make weight, which is a practice common in MMA and amateur wrestling. While it was merely suggestion before, CSAC will now require doctors to test for signs of dehydration in pre-fight physicals and make it part of the physician's pre-fight questionnaire.

Under the package, CSAC will now have the ability to collect urine samples from fighters for specific gravity tests, which detect proper hydration. If a fighter cannot pass that test, he or she will be given two to three hours to properly hydrate. If he or she still cannot pass the specific gravity test, the bout will be off.

If severe dehydration is verified by a physician, CSAC now has the ability to not approve a fighter to compete in that weight class in the future.

USADA's ban on IVs under the UFC's new anti-doping policy has come under controversy, but CSAC has now adopted the same rule. USADA is more concerned with performance-enhancing drug use and the masking abilities of IVs, whereas the California commission has installed the regulation due to weight cutting. Foster has said that he doesn't believe a fighter who needs an IV to rehydrate is in the correct weight class.

Of course, an IV can be administered to a fighter after weigh-ins if it is medically needed. But that fighter does not stand a very good chance of being cleared to fight by the commission in that case.

"I can't imagine a time in my mind when someone needs an IV and we'll say, 'OK you can go on and fight,'" Foster said. "I think that would be irresponsible."

The new regulations also allow CSAC to move the weigh-in back to up to 30 hours prior to an event. Dr. Edmund Ayoub said in December at a CSAC-hosted weigh-cutting summit that the more time the fighters have to rehydrate the better. Ayoub said that it's impossible for a fighter to rehydrate fully after an extreme weight cut in just 24 hours, with or without an IV.

CSAC will look in the future to move the time back up to 72 hours before a card, according to chairman John Carvelli, but the current state statute only allows up to 30 hours. The previous rule was 24 hours.

The Kansas Athletic Commission is already testing out a new weigh-in procedure for Bellator 150 on Feb. 26. Fighters will be given the option to weigh-in beginning at 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. the day before the event. The normal Bellator weigh-ins at 4 p.m. will not be the official weigh-in, unless fighters would prefer to weigh-in then.

The Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) is likely to vote this summer on the addition of new weight classes with the advent of more stringent weight-cutting rules.
Source MMAFighting
 
#9 ·
That's it. Conor McGregor is never ever fighting again at Feather Weight.



In his case here, the test would be even easier to conclude. Beside his cadaveric look, no urine at all to be tested, completely dry mouth that makes absolutely safe to Ariel to interview him up close without the risk of saliva spitting on his face and finally, jelly blood, if any. :)
 
#10 ·
You can clearly tell the guy is dehydrated in the video. Mentally, he doesnt seem as sharp and he keeps smacking his mouth to try to get some moisture, his lips are clearly dry.

I think he's done at Featherweight anyway, but any new rules passed will take the decision away from him.
 
#13 ·
Guys wait, before you celebrate.

The new regulations also allow CSAC to move the weigh-in back to up to 30 hours prior to an event. Dr. Edmund Ayoub said in December at a CSAC-hosted weigh-cutting summit that the more time the fighters have to rehydrate the better. Ayoub said that it's impossible for a fighter to rehydrate fully after an extreme weight cut in just 24 hours, with or without an IV.

CSAC will look in the future to move the time back up to 72 hours before a card, according to chairman John Carvelli, but the current state statute only allows up to 30 hours. The previous rule was 24 hours.

The Kansas Athletic Commission is already testing out a new weigh-in procedure for Bellator 150 on Feb. 26. Fighters will be given the option to weigh-in beginning at 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. the day before the event. The normal Bellator weigh-ins at 4 p.m. will not be the official weigh-in, unless fighters would prefer to weigh-in then.
I'm not quite sure whether I really understand this passage, but to me it looks like they give fighters just more time to rehydrate which may make things even worse as fighters could come to the idea that given more time to rehydrate they could cut even MORE water weight before the weigh ins.

And with urine gravity tests, expect fighters to use catheters to fill up their bladders.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Guys wait, before you celebrate.



I'm not quite sure whether I really understand this passage, but to me it looks like they give fighters just more time to rehydrate which may make things even worse as fighters could come to the idea that given more time to rehydrate they could cut even MORE water weight before the weigh ins.

And with urine gravity tests, expect fighters to use catheters to fill up their bladders.
Weighing in 72 hours from a fight means it is even more beneficial to cut much weight.

Make them weigh in 5 minutes before entering octagon instead. That would force everyone to fight at their natural weight and force them to not cut weight.
If they are doing dehydration tests before the weigh in it won't allow fighters to cut more weight even if they have a 72 hour period to re-hydrate. It is extremely easy to test for dehydration in a fighter through urine, or in severe cases lack of ability to even produce a urine sample. Unless they abandon the dehydration test the 72 hour window just makes it safer for the fighters and better for the fans, since we won't see as many fighters gas or make dumb mistakes.
 
#14 ·
Conor McGregor is probably the worst looking fighter in MMA on a weight cut. You know the way you get those drunk people where you can look at them for one second to tell if they've been drinking, Conor's like that with weight cuts. He looks like a completely different person. Sometimes they'll put up a weight cut photo as his tale of the tape and you just know instantly that he was a zombie in the picture.
 
#20 ·
Dada 5000 heart reportedly stopped following loss to Kimbo Slice

I think this is appropriate to be here.

Very close call in a very serious matter that can affect any athlete in any org mishandling his/her weight cut.

Dada 5000 in stable condition after his heart reportedly stopped following loss to Kimbo Slice

Dhafir “Dada 5000” Harris is currently in stable condition after suffering a major medical scare that hospitalized the fighter after his loss to Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson at Bellator 149.

Harris was initially sent to the hospital for what appeared to be extreme fatigue after his third-round TKO loss to Ferguson. But his situation only worsened from there as his heart reportedly stopped and he was placed on ventilator. After being resuscitated by a doctor at a nearby Houston hospital, Harris remained in critical care but appears to be doing much better as his condition has now been labeled as stable.

Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter was first to report Harris’ health scare following the co-featured bout with his longtime rival. There was concern that Harris may not survive through the night but the 38-year-old is currently in recovery.

Bellator released a statement Saturday afternoon from the Harris family regarding his condition that stated that he is “resting comfortably” in a Houston-area hospital. According to the statement, Harris had “accumulated extremely high levels of potassium in his blood which led to severe dehydration, fatigue and renal failure.”

“The high potassium levels were likely caused by his 40-lbs. weight loss in preparation for the fight.”

It was only Harris’ third professional mixed martial arts fight, and first since 2011, after spending years cultivating the street fighting scene in Miami’s Dade County. Harris was the subject of the documentary “Dawg Fight” and had formed a rivalry with fellow Miami street brawler and YouTube sensation-turned-MMA fighter, Kimbo Slice. The heated rivalry culminated at Bellator 149 in a forgettable fight where both fighters were extremely fatigued by the time Harris stumbled away and landed face first on the canvas as exhaustion was more so the culprit than any punch Slice threw.

But considering that Harris had never fought at this level, there can be a considerable amount of blame placed on how he mishandled his weight cut that led to the health scare. Prior to the fight, Harris was required to provide the Texas Department of Licensing and Registration with both EKG and EEG exams before he would be cleared to fight. Even though he was cleared, the street fighting legend still needed to shed 40 pounds to get to the 265-pound heavyweight limit for the fight and the toll it took on his body was simply too much.

He remained down in the cage after the fight was stopped and was carted away on a stretcher to the backstage area where he received oxygen before being transported to a nearby hospital. Things took a turn for the worse when his heart stopped at the hospital – refuting some reports that Harris suffered cardiac arrest in the cage – but it appears that he’ll make a full recovery.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/dada-5000-in-stable-condition-after-his-heart-reportedly-stopped-following-loss-to-kimbo-slice-223108957-mma.html
 
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