Frankie Edgar on extreme weight cutting
Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar was on the MMA Hour and gave his thoughts on weight cutting issues and what can be done about it.
On if he thinks weight cutting can lead to a fighter’s death.
“I do. Wrestling has seen it happen back in ‘96, ‘97, or something like that, where a few wrestlers died at the college level and they upped the weight classes. If you add more weight classes, it could encourage people to cut less weight, but it also might encourage someone to cut more weight. They’ll say, ‘Oh, I couldn’t make ‘55, but I can make ‘65,’ and they were going ‘70.
“So I don’t know, I think people are always going to look for a way to get an advantage and cutting weight is going to be really tough to get people to stop doing that. Maybe hydration tests. In college, the best way we did it, we did hour weigh-ins, you weigh in an hour before you compete. But that’s just not feasible, I think, in MMA.”
On same day weigh-ins.
“I guess you could, it’s just you see people miss weight now, the day before it’s a bad scramble,” Edgar said. “Imagine day of, how bad that scramble is.
“It’s just tough. I don’t think there’s any easy answer. Some suggestions have to happen or something bad will happen. You’re seeing guys end up in hospitals for weight cuts pretty frequently, luckily they’re getting the help they need and nothing too serious happens.”
CM Punk back training
CM Punk’s head coach Duke Roufus took to Instagram and posted a picture of himself with his arm around Punk after a training session.
Mackenzie Dern discusses her latest win
Top MMA prospect Mackenzie Dern spoke to MMA Fighting after her first round submission win over Mandy Polk at LFA 24 on Friday night.
“I was happy, but the first thing — I saw some pictures, like some punches, and my head was down. So there’s still, of course, tons of things I see that I can get better on. Lots of things. Even the takedowns, I almost tried too much to go for the takedowns. So even little things like that, I always can get better.
“But I think the biggest thing is just the weight,” Dern added, “trying to figure out which weight class I want to do and trying to go to the next level.
“Now that I felt that maybe my hands are pretty strong, I think I’m a little more confident (in saying), okay, let’s do this, let’s go to 115.
“It makes me feel like I’ll be strong — even stronger — at 115. For sure, I think 125, me and my manager were talking — 125 is more shallow for girls. It’s a new division, so it’s (wide open). But I think 115, I’ll be a good size, I’ll be strong and everything. I just need to figure out this weight cut.”
Roger Gracie retires from MMA
Gracie spoke to MMA Fighting about his decision to hang up his gloves.
“I decided to stop because I didn’t think MMA was motivating me enough to keep dedicating myself 100 percent to an athlete’s life,” Gracie told MMA Fighting. “I enjoyed it, it was a huge pleasure to do these 10 MMA fights, but I have no other ambitions. I just turned 36. I never wanted to compete longer than 38, and there’s not much else left to conquer in MMA, something that would change my career.
“I just ended my career at a high level. I would have more to lose than to gain if I kept fighting MMA. If I had the same passion in MMA like I had in jiu-jitsu I would continue, but the only motivation that would keep me in MMA was money, and I’m against doing something focusing only on money. I don’t think I’d even give my 100 percent in this case, so I decided to retire and focus on other things in my life.”
Gracie’s MMA career started in 2006. The thirty-six year old won ten IBJJF world titles and three ADCC titles. He is widely considered the greatest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor of all-time.
Gracie summed up his MMA career and what it’s meant to him.
“The most special fight for me was then I won the belt,” Gracie said. “It was a great fight, an excellent fight, and I won a belt. That’s something extra, more than just winning a fight. You’re the champion of that division, so it was a cool feeling.
“I’m super happy with my career. I’ve fought 10 fights, faced several great opponents, big names, and was able to put on excellent fights. It was a cool experience to fight MMA. It’s completely different from the jiu-jitsu I competed my entire life. It was a special feeling to follow the Gracie family’s path. I saw my cousins and uncles fighting MMA since I was a kid, and I knew that the Gracie path was to fight jiu-jitsu and MMA.”
MMA Notebook
Former NFL player Greg Hardy makes his amateur MMA debut on November 4.
Glory heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven defeated Antonio “Big Foot” Silva by TKO in the second round at Glory 46. The event was held in China.
Former UFC fighter Nikita Krylov defeated former Bellator champion Emanuel Newton by first round knockout at Fight Nights Global 77. The event was held in Russia.
Germaine de Randamie has been cleared to return to training after hand surgery.
Julianna Pena has put her MMA career on hold after announcing she is pregnant.
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