Alan Jouban has his own take on failed weight cuts in mixed martial arts.
A lot has been made over Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White’s decision to end early morning weigh-ins. White claims that a majority of fighters want to go back to the afternoon weigh-ins. He also says that there were fewer failed weight cuts during the old regime.
Fighters such as Mackenzie Dern and Darren Till have been scrutinized for failing to make weight. Yoel Romero may be the biggest offender at this time as he missed weight for back-to-back title fights. This has caused some to go as far as to say that fighters are missing weight on purpose due to a size advantage.
Speaking to BJPenn.com, Jouban didn’t agree with that assessment:
“You could do one of two things. You can keep pushing and try to make it to the finish line, although you probably know you’re not gonna make it, and drain yourself down and still miss weight. [You’ll] still miss weight and still pay the penalty, but you’re still gonna try to lose that extra two or three pounds to get as close as you can and weaken your body. Or you can say ‘you know what, I’m not gonna [make it] anyway. I’m not gonna make weight, so I’m just gonna give up, whatever. I’m gonna pay a fine, but at least I’m not gonna starve myself and deplete my body even further. And then I’ll have an advantage in the fight.’”
Jouban has yet to experience issues tipping the scales at his contracted weight. “Brahma” competes in the welterweight division. He is set to take on Danny Roberts at UFC Hamburg. The event will take place inside the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany on July 22.
Do you think Alan Jouban has a point?
