The Biggest Weight-Cutting Blunders in UFC History
Cutting weight is a controversial part of MMA.
It was once seen as a necessary element of the sport, something athletes or fans rarely questioned. As exposure to the underbelly of the game has increased, though, people have become more horrified by what a fighter often does to hit the contracted number on the scale.
Hours of starving, dehydrating and running, both in and out of a sauna suit, doing shifts in a sauna, sweating out your last drops—it's an unpleasant process, and it's what a mixed martial artist has to go through just to get to the fight.
On the heels of Darren Till's disastrous weight cut at Fight Night 130, the UFC is looking at revamping its weigh-in policies. Till isn't the first one to find himself on death's door from trying to make weight, though—there were many before him, and there will be many more after without significant change.
Let's take a look at some of the more prominent weight-cutting blunders in UFC history.
Anthony Johnson Misses Cut 3 Times in 6 Fights at 2 Different Weights
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Anthony "Rumble" Johnson is retired, and for many he's remembered as a gleefully entertaining light heavyweight slugging machine. For a stretch in his later UFC career, his fights were can't-miss affairs that were certain to end in thunderous stoppages. He even earned a pair of title shots in the weight class, though he never made good on either.
However, long before that, he notoriously failed to make weight several times from 2009 to 2012. As a welterweight, he missed weight twice—once by six pounds and another by seven—and was forced to move up to middleweight.
That's where he missed weight again. The UFC then cut him, until he went back to the proverbial minor leagues and reinvented himself in the proper weight class.
Interestingly, his first fight outside the UFC after his cut was contested at 195 pounds, because both Johnson and opponent Dave Branch missed weight for the Titan FC affair. That made for consecutive misses and three in six fights, but he got it figured out eventually and finished his career on a 12-2 run, fighting at 205 pounds and above.
Travis Lutter Earns Title Shot, Misses Weight and Gets Stopped by Anderson Silva
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Travis Lutter was a great story for a moment: He won a redemptive season of The Ultimate Fighter where UFC castoffs were given the chance at a title shot if they survived the reality show tournament.
Interestingly, Lutter and Matt Serra won, and both managed to secure their chances against two of the greatest mixed martial artists to ever live—Lutter against Anderson Silva, Serra against Georges St-Pierre.
While everyone remembers Serra's shot, which he won by knockout in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, it was Lutter who went first. He got a stab at Silva in February 2007 in the UFC 67 main event, and the prevailing thought was that he might rely on grappling chops to get the job done.
It didn't get that far, though.
Lutter missed weight, and the fight became a nontitle affair, so any strategy he might have developed became instantly less interesting. What's more, Silva used his own grappling skills to secure a win, finishing Lutter with a triangle choke and elbows.
Lutter fought just one more time in the UFC and retired from regional promotions in 2010.
Johny Hendricks Has 2 Misses in a Row—Moves Up a Weight Class, Misses Again
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Johny Hendricks was an excellent welterweight for a period, controversially losing to St-Pierre in 2013 before officially becoming champion in a defeat of Robbie Lawler a few months later. He was 16-2 at that point, and it looked like his blend of wrestling and power punching would be enough for him to rule to roost for a while.
Except a Lawler rematch happened, and Lawler won. That sent Hendricks back to the contendership queue, and things got off the rails from there.
After losing his belt, Hendricks lost three straight at 170 pounds and missed weight twice in 2016, prompting him to jump up to middleweight. While he was successful in his debut there, he was badly outsized, and every shot he took almost made one want to cringe.
Then, in his second fight at middleweight, in June 2017, he missed weight again. He weighed 188 pounds and was eventually mauled by Tim Boetsch. He then suffered another loss a few months later.
He's without a UFC deal, and it's hard to imagine the promotion would want him back if he can't get his weight figured out.
Mackenzie Dern Whiffs on the Strawweight Limit by 7 Pounds
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Mackenzie Dern is the hottest prospect in women's MMA, with the bloodline (her father is Wellington Dias) and competitive experience that makes champions. She's been shoehorned into the 115-pound division early in her UFC career, despite competing as high as 140 pounds in her decorated jiu-jitsu run and regularly as a flyweight in MMA, and the results have been mixed.
In seven pro fights, Dern has missed weight three times, including an astonishing seven-pound miss in her most recent UFC outing in May. She took on Amanda Bobby Cooper in Brazil—on a fight card she requested to appear upon—and didn't come close to making weight in front of a partisan crowd that cheered her on.
She won the fight and did so in spectacular fashion, showing development and raw talent that gets people excited, but the weight miss was a disaster. The UFC may give her another shot at 115, but you can expect she'll be a flyweight for good before long.
Jason Miller Leaves UFC, Misses by 22 Pounds in His 1st Venator FC Fight
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Jason "Mayhem" Miller's perceived impact on the UFC probably outsizes his actual contributions to the promotion. People remember him as much for his television spots and appearances in various (not always good) headlines over the years, and as a result he's associated with the UFC brand despite an unimpressive 0-3 record there.
While he made weight in those three fights—including one that took place at welterweight, down from where he contested much of his career as a middleweight—he had such a catastrophic miss in his only bout after his final UFC release that it bears mentioning.
Appearing for Italian promotion Venator FC in May 2016, Miller was contracted for a middleweight fight (185 lbs) and proceeded to weigh in at a bewildering 207 pounds. Two hundred and seven. Furthermore, he didn't even seem concerned, offering a modest shrug on the scale and moving on to drop the fight the following day by second-round submission to Lorenzo Spoto.
An unbelievable miss.
Thiago Alves Drops to Lightweight, Misses by 6.6 Pounds and Never Goes Back
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Thiago Alves was a large welterweight in his day, so it was something of a surprise that he was looking to drop to lightweight for a fight with Jim Miller at UFC 205 in November 2016.
Well, "lightweight" is maybe misleading, as Alves didn't even get below 160 pounds in his attempt at a new weight class.
As a welterweight, Alves had a couple of misses on his record, and there was no reason to think he'd get to lightweight. His final mark of 162.6 pounds proved as much. He also had a suspension for using banned diuretics in 2007, further evidence that the battle with the scale has always been a concern for the talented Brazilian.
In any event, his attempt at lightweight was a one-time offering. He lost to Miller and headed back to 170 pounds, where he's gone 1-1 since.
Some guys shouldn't push their luck, and it appears Alves is one of them.
Charles Oliveira Misses Weight by 9 Pounds, Gets Choked Out Anyway
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Charles Oliveira is a legend in the game of missing weight, failing often both in terms of pounds and number of misses. He's gone over four times in his UFC career (and fought an opponent who missed on one occasion as well), going 2-2 in those bouts as part of a 23-8 overall record.
The most remarkable of his misses came against Ricardo Lamas, though, in a November 2016 fight that took place at a 155-pound catchweight despite its being contracted to occur at the 145-pound featherweight limit. If one includes the one-pound allowance an athlete gets for nontitle fights, that means Oliveira, who weighed in at 155 pounds, missed by nine pounds. Or, if you prefer, he missed by one entire weight class.
And the result? Further punishment.
Agreeing to the fight anyway despite giving up who knows how much weight once the two entered the cage, Lamas beat him with a guillotine choke in just over seven minutes.
It was a bad day at the office for the Brazilian wunderkind.
Yoel Romero Is the Only Fighter to Miss Weight for 2 Title Fights
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In a stunning turn, Saturday's UFC 225 main event fell apart on the scales when middleweight challenger Yoel Romero missed weight by a minuscule 0.2 pounds.
While it was bad enough for him that the fight was turned into a nontitle bout as a result, it might be even worse that it was his second weight miss in as many prospective title fights.
Romero, a hulking 185-pounder at the best of times, was slated to face Luke Rockhold at UFC 221 in an interim middleweight title fight earlier this year. He took the bout on short notice and, perhaps as a result, couldn't hit the contracted limit. He was stripped of the chance to win the title, but because he won the fight—and by way of a convincing knockout—he was given a shot at Robert Whittaker and the real belt.
Fast-forward to Chicago, and Romero was unable to hit his mark again. The miss established him in the unenviable position of being the only fighter in UFC history to miss weight for multiple title fights.
They are, incidentally, the only misses of his career.
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