Only one fighter missed weight at Friday morning’s UFC Argentina official weigh-ins, but it was a scary sight — and a serious reminder of the dangers of extreme weight cutting.
Strawweight contender Cynthia Calvillo was barely able to stand on the scale when she weighed in at 118 pounds at Friday’s weigh-ins, two pounds over the limit for her scheduled fight against Poliana Botelho. Nonetheless, the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) medical team evaluated Calvillo and cleared her to compete on Saturday at UFC Argentina. Calvillo will be fined 20 percent of her purse for the weigh-in miss, but the frightening sight of her on the scale prompted plenty of concern from the pros on Twitter.
This is NOT ok
— Jessica Jag Aguilar (@jagatt) November 16, 2018
Jesus. It’s 2018 and this is weight cutting at the highest level in the world. What are we DOING. Smh. https://t.co/xd44Z8Zk2Y
— Brendan Schaub (@BrendanSchaub) November 16, 2018
The #1 most dangerous thing in the sport of WMMA is extreme weight cutting. https://t.co/kIqrBUI3Bg
— #CyborgNation #UFC232 (@criscyborg) November 16, 2018
I put a girl in the hospital before cutting weight. It wasn't through lack of effort. @veronicafights https://t.co/iLN9VGAB7M
— Justin Buchholz (@JustinBuchholz) November 16, 2018
It’s not about the weight , it’s about being professional and arriving on the target ! Making weight is a part of the job period ! https://t.co/m810w4FUS5
— patrick cote (@patrick_cote) November 16, 2018
It’s hard because she didn’t do her job month before by keeping the weight in a good range so@now she suffer for nothing ! Making weight is part of being professional period ! https://t.co/OdKcvSCIDy
— patrick cote (@patrick_cote) November 16, 2018
Cutting weight is never fun . But you have to prepare your body for that drastic situation. When you do it right with the good knowledge, you should make weight . I was cutting 20-23 pounds in 18hours all the time and never missed the target ! https://t.co/fQqHgOedUD
— patrick cote (@patrick_cote) November 16, 2018
If you guys don’t know how the cutting weight process goes in the UFC ect. what I have seen:
— Jarred Brooks (@The_monkeygod) November 16, 2018
Someone cut from 170 down to 125 .. they get to make weight a day before weigh ins and they weigh 150 by fight night .So if you are 150 and someone actually weighs 125 is that cheating?
There is an advantage they should weigh in same day in the AM fight at night. You can only gain so much weight back in a couple of hrs and if you are unfit to fight that day you shouldn’t fight in that weight
— Jarred Brooks (@The_monkeygod) November 16, 2018
#unsafeworkingconditions https://t.co/WyC2v5MaGE
— Leslie Smith (@LeslieSmith_GF) November 16, 2018
I agree she put herself in the situation but I also think the UFC could step up their training and supervision of weight cuts to make it safer. Since she is fighting for them it is at their discretion to let the fight go on and its dangerous to let a depleted fighter fight
— Leslie Smith (@LeslieSmith_GF) November 16, 2018
Management will always lean toward the revenue meaning try to make the fight regardless. A union health and safety committee could be present at all cards and weigh-ins to specifically focus on the health and well being of the fighter and to speak for them with a collective voice
— Lucas Middlebrook (@lkmiddleb) November 16, 2018
I feel a little bit sick watching that. She should not be able to fight after not being able to walk to the scale unassisted. I hope she’s ok https://t.co/6rzMKTLaEc
— Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) November 16, 2018
What “safety of the fighter”
— Brian Kelleher (@brianboom135) November 16, 2018