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ONE Championship Bans Dehydration Weight Cutting, Challenges UFC and Bellator to Follow
Following a recent catastrophic incident, ONE Championship on Wednesday announced a major change to its weigh-in policy for the safety of its fighters, and challenged the mixed martial arts industry leaders, UFC and Bellator, to follow suit.
Tragedy befell ONE Championship earlier this month, as 21-year-old Chinese fighter Yang Jian Bing died following complications due to an unsuccessful weight cut. He had been scheduled to face Geje Eustaquio at ONE: Spirit of Champions in Manila on Dec. 11, but collapsed suddenly prior to weigh-ins and was rushed to hospital where doctors were unable to save him.
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Not standing by and just accepting the tragedy, ONE has decided to ban weigh-cutting by dehydration for its fighters. ONE is “instituting a new set of regulations and policies governing the weigh-in procedures and contracted weight limits. The new program, which is the first of its kind for combat sports, is focused on athlete safety by introducing ‘walking-weight’ competition via multiple weigh-ins and tests before and during fight week, including three hours before an event begins.”
Athletes will now compete at their “walking-weight,” which will be determined by a system that will track the fighter’s weight on a regular basis throughout the period that the athlete is contracted to ONE.
The revolutionary weigh-in program was established after thorough discussions and recommendations by ONE Championship's medical and competition team, consisting of Chief Doctor Dr. Warren Wang, Chief Medical Advisor Dr. James Okamoto, Vice President Mr. Rich Franklin, Vice President of Operations & Competition Mr. Matt Hume, Global Athlete Services & Competition Director Mr. Richard Auty and China Athlete Services & Competition Director Mr. Vaughn Anderson.
“ONE Championship has paved the way for MMA in Asia and we have always been at the forefront of innovation for the sport. By banning weight cutting by dehydration, we are leading the way globally for enhanced safety standards for professional MMA athletes,” said Victor Cui, CEO of ONE Championship.
“We believe that through the implementation of this new weigh-in program, our fighters will enjoy a safer and healthier life inside and outside of the cage. I invite the other two major global MMA organizations, Bellator and UFC, to follow in our footsteps to protect athletes and to eliminate the process of weight cutting by dehydration.”
Retired UFC fighter Rich Franklin, now a ONE Championship vice president, fully backed the new program, throwing the heft of his personal experience with weight cutting behind the decision.
“Today I'm proud to have been involved with developing the new weigh-in program for ONE athletes. As a former MMA champion, I've been through the process of weight-cutting by dehydration countless times and I know first-hand how it affects an athlete physically. I personally understand the importance of safety and competing at your very best as a professional MMA athlete and after reviewing the new regulations and policies governing the weigh-in procedures and contracted weight limits, this new program does both for our athletes.”
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Longtime trainer, former Pride FC executive, and current ONE Champion Vice President of Operations & Competition Matt Hume, added, “We believe we have put together the best possible weigh-in program in combat sports. This program will revolutionize the way weigh-ins are conducted around the world and we look forward to the positive outcome it will have on safety standards related to weight-cutting globally.”
The new program will commence from January 2016 and will be applied to all athletes competing under the ONE banner.
