Originally posted by: Tgilb2007
Date: May 01, 2012 at 10:01 PM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/fighters-who-should-drop-down.46366/
PsychoIcon said:
Tgilb2007 said:
PsychoIcon said:
Why do people think its hard to lose weight as you get older? Lol.... That baffles me. If you eat healthy and workout then you should be fine. Most guys that do mma do this...lol. People dont balloon up and get bigger as they get older, they shrivel and shrink.... Couture admitted at his age that it was hard to put on mass, and thats one decision he decided to fight really lean during the Brock fight.
If your a guy with tons of muscle, Bader, Pahlares losing weight wouldnt hurt much. Its the size of your frame, not the intangibles. Sometimes that bulk gets in the way of being flexible and agile. More range and motion... More of a Fighters body.... abnormalties can help a man, but seriously hinder as well.
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Look at Fedor for a start. Guy is what, 34 years old now, and NEVER has cut weight. Its not as simple as healthy eating and working out either. There is also a science to cutting weight correctly as well. These wrestlers that are in MMA, are of course, used to this whole process. Dieting correctly, the correct workouts to burn fat, and when the time comes, shedding the water weight as well. Hence why someone as thick as say, Ryan Bader, can make 205lbs with no issues, while probably getting closer to 230lbs when not in training camp. Obviously, his diet and workouts during training camp reduce his fat again, but to make the weight, I am sure some sauna time, running in plastics, or w/e technique he uses to shed water weight, is done in advance of weigh ins too.
Shedding muscle, is also MUCH harder than shedding fat and water down. Pat Barry had talked about this, saying it would take nearly a year, to reduce his muscle down to make 205lbs. You have to not only continue to work out, to maintain the power, and everything else you want, but also make sure that MUSCLE is being burnt off, instead of fat.
Out of all of the fighters mentioned, Roy Nelson is the ONLY fighter, who carries a massive amount of fat into a fight. Palhares, Barry, Bader, those guys are built like s----brick houses at their fight weight. And, with Nelson being at his size, and his age, getting down to 205lbs would be a MASSIVE undertaking, to do so, and do it correctly. Its not just, "oh, eat right and work out, it'll come off". Nelson does work out (surely, he is a pro fighter), and I am sure that he does need to adjust his diet, but even then, who knows how long it'll take, to get to 205.
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Science = Hard Work? Thank You for explaining the Ultra-Obvious. I needed a relecture on the information I had forgot. So a little motivation and time off... I dont care if a person drops or moves up or whatever quite honestly.
More reps, less calories, ... Sounds like extreme science.
I would prefer people to fight at there natural weight. FrankiE, Machida... He could move down, I dont care if he does. People should do what makes them happy. If I have no chance on beating the champion in the weight division im in, and my one goal in life is to become champion.... Then I should move to a division where I can have better chance with another fight. If the fighter fought at natural weight without the cut, then he would perform better. Some people have the mental toughness to make themselves suffer threw it, and you call it science. When its basic facts of just cutting out water(Since we are 3/4'ths water anyway)...
Ive cut weight before. Ive done it before for fun on my own time, just to see how hard it is, and if its possible. I cut nearly 15lbs in 3 days, and it didnt feel to bad the next day. Im 6'1 and I was 175 at the time. I wanted to cut to 155, but I started to feel real s***ty around 15 lbs.
Whats the difference in taking 6 months off to better your career, or taking a fight with someone that took you 4 months to train, and then you lose, and then you dont have another fight for 3-4 months, hoping no injury... Which 50% of the time there is. So thats more months off possibly...
The risk and reward are in the eyes of the person doing it. Sometimes people say things that sound a lot worse because they simply just dont want to do it(barry/nelson).
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I've cut weight as well, for several years in HS as a wrestler. Believe me, its not just "more reps, less calories" as you mention. You have to make sure that you are still fueling your body correctly, eating the correct types, and amounts, of food while trying to not only maintain energy levels, but also lose the weight. Miscalculations in this, will lead to either cutting to much, or not cutting enough.
Cutting water is also the LAST step, if needed, to make weight. The human body, while consisting mostly of water, still needs water to maintain itself.
Also, to use your example. So, I take 6 months to shred muscle mass, and additional weight, and know 100% that I can cut the weight safely. So now, I take another 4 months to train and prepare for a fight. 10 months gone so far. Then, barring injury, its another 3-4 months for a fight. So now, I've lost a year of my career, lost money on NOT fighting, lost exposure to fans, sponsors, and rankings.
Now, say, I do get injured. And, I miss, 3 months. So, fight took 10 months. After the fight, 3 more months gone. Now, once healed, 4 months for training camp. That is now about 1 fight a year, and if I am not someone like GSP, or Anderson Silva, or the other top-tier fighters, I am basically either going to be broke, or working a regular job plus being an MMA fighter. 6 mo to shed weight, 4 mo to train, 3 mo to heal from injury, and another 4 mo to train again. 17 months, 2 fights.
It is really a risk / reward scenario. So, on top of the actual weight cutting issues, now you have to look into other aspects of the drop in weight. Is it work fighting so infrequently? And losing potentially thousands of dollars? When, I am already healthy at the weight class I was once competing in?
And as for Frankie Edgar, he is fighting near his natural weight. He barely drops anything when its fight time.
