BBC’s ‘Extraordinary Bodies’ series explores the world of MMA weight cutting

It’s not much of a secret these days for hardcore fans, but for the broader world that only knows MMA passingly as “cage-fighting,” or…

By: Zane Simon | 6 years ago
BBC’s ‘Extraordinary Bodies’ series explores the world of MMA weight cutting
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

It’s not much of a secret these days for hardcore fans, but for the broader world that only knows MMA passingly as “cage-fighting,” or some variation, weight cutting is MMA’s hidden danger. Everyone knows that kicking and punching people can hurt them, or that twisting someone’s limbs or choking them might have a few adverse effects. PEDs and their dangers, once an unspoken standard in athletics, have become a front and center conversation across all sports.

But, unless you’re in the MMA bubble (or the collegiate/international wrestling one) the idea of weight cutting and the potential dangers involved still come as something of a shock to the populace at large. Fighters cut how much water out of their bodies!? Over how little time!? The whole idea seems a bit insane.

Which is why BBC 3 is shining a light on the practice in their 30 minute mini-documentary as part of the series “Extraordinary Bodies.” Their camera crews followed UK based bantamweight Dean Garnett through his weight cutting process (with appearances from UFC welterweight Danny Roberts) as he prepared to fight Luiz Tosta back at Bellator 158 in 2016.

The show includes research being done to track Garnett’s body composition as he goes through his training camp and weight cut, to track changes potentially due to losing large amounts of water weight rapidly. Check it out, as an interesting look at one of the many rigors of being a competitor in mixed martial arts.

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About the author
Zane Simon
Zane Simon

Zane Simon is a senior editor, writer, and podcaster for Bloody Elbow. He has worked with the website since 2013, taking on a wide variety of roles. A lifelong combat sports fan, Zane has trained off & on in both boxing and Muay Thai. He currently hosts the long-running MMA Vivisection podcast, which he took over from Nate Wilcox & Dallas Winston in 2015, as well as the 6th Round podcast, started in 2014. Zane is also responsible for developing and maintaining the ‘List of current UFC fighters’ on Bloody Elbow, a resource he originally developed for Wikipedia in 2010.

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