Cage fighters use these crazy methods to make weight

Like many other martial arts, mixed martial arts also takes place in weight classes. However, many athletes compete well below their natural weight. They sometimes undergo extreme methods to lose weight – and rely on numerous tricks.

Mixed Martial Arts is predominantly characterized by superficial injuries: bruises, cuts and, in the worst case, even fractures. Before the athletes climb into the cage, they undergo a process to dramatically shrink their weight.

Making weight is the name given to the process by which fighters hope to gain an advantage in the ring. To do this, methods that put a lot of strain on the body and are sometimes dangerous are used, which go beyond just a diet. Theoretically, anyone can lose a lot of pounds in a short period of time this way. Ring doctor and orthopedist Panagiotis Karachalios explains in an interview with ntv/RTL why that would be a pretty stupid idea.

The MMA fighters at Oktagon 62 also undergo this process. The historical spectacle from Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt can be seen exclusively on RTL+ on October 12th (with a premium subscription from 8.99 euros).*

Week-long diet and calorie counting before MMA fights

This is the less dramatic way and one that is already familiar to many. MMA fighters sometimes start a strict diet two months before their fight, which escalates as they prepare. As a rule, only the calories that the body needs for training are consumed.

An MMA fighter follows a nutrition plan put together by a specialist. “It’s more like a normal diet and not dangerous,” says Karachalios, who, among other things, also carries out medical checks at octagon events. “At best, this is a psychological burden that everyone who goes on a diet experiences.”

The doctor explains that the mixture of fasting and calorie counting actually only serves as preparation to make it easier to survive the strenuous sweating process. “The aim is to lose so much weight using this classic route that only around ten percent of your body weight has to be lost as water in the final days before the fight,” says Karachalios.

Many MMA athletes start water loading around four days before the fight. Controlled and distributed throughout the day, they supply the body with enormous amounts of water. Depending on your weight, between six and ten liters per day. This really stimulates kidney activity and makes you go to the toilet as often as possible.

After three days, the athlete abruptly switches to a very low water intake: he only drinks one liter per day. The kidney is tricked like this. It continues to work at full speed and processes fluid in the body, which is removed through urine.

“From that point of view, it is harmless as long as it is carried out in a controlled manner. They are high-performance athletes who drink more during preparation and then slowly increase it. It would only be dangerous if they stopped consuming salt and electrolytes. But MMA athletes still eat small amounts during this time,” says Karachalios.

The martial arts classic: the boiling

The official weigh-in takes place one day before the fight. At this point, athletes must be under a certain target weight. Accordingly, 24 hours before the scale, as much water as possible is sweated out in order to get to this point. Dehydration using particularly drastic methods.

This is also where the diet comes to a head, because you don’t eat or drink anything the day before the scales. The MMA professionals are never alone; they are usually looked after by several trainers, sometimes also doctors and nutritionists.

A standard part of boiling is several sauna sessions. First the athlete warms up, brings the body up to temperature and starts the sweating process. Many people already wear a sweat suit, which is hardly breathable and turns the body into a small sauna.

Then it goes into a mobile sauna or a sauna blanket. The mobile sauna is a type of thermal tent that is heated to more than 70 degrees using heat radiators or hot steam. However, the head is free, the rest of the body is sweating. This means an athlete can complete significantly longer sauna sessions – sometimes up to an hour; in a standard sauna you should spend around ten minutes.

The sauna blanket, on the other hand, works a little differently, even though it leaves your head free. Wrapped tightly in towels and ultimately the blanket powered by infrared rays, the temperature here also rises to around 75 degrees Celsius. However, the heat has no effect on the skin and is found by many MMA professionals to be more pleasant.

Mental tricks are also used. The athlete is not allowed to consume any water or food during this time; it’s okay to give the body the feeling that something is coming along. Sometimes the MMA professionals are given an ice cube to suck on, but they are not allowed to swallow the water and have to spit it out. However, there remains a small cooling effect for the head, which is constantly kept cool by the carers with ice cubes. A lollipop that the pros are allowed to lick for a few seconds has a similar effect. However, the little rush of sugar is a little mental push and relieves your dry mouth.

The salt bath in front of the cage corridor

“Then there is the option of taking a salt bath. A hot bath at 55 to 60 degrees, the body is rubbed with a sweat cream beforehand so that the pores open,” explains Karachalios.

That could put the body in a critical state. The vessels expand, the organs are less supplied with blood, and the heart begins to beat faster. “The athletes sometimes get heart palpitations and many of them can’t endure this condition for long. It’s not uncommon for them to collapse. This can also happen in the mobile sauna or with a sweat suit, but much more often in the salt bath.”

Long-term consequences

The fact that you can lose a lot of kilograms in a short time using these methods should not obscure the long-term risks, says the doctor. The body’s hormonal balance becomes out of balance.

Circulatory problems, muscle cramps, fainting, chronic constipation or kidney dysfunction can be the consequences of gaining weight. “Mental stress and eating disorders can arise. In some cases there is even a risk of osteoporosis if you have already gone through these processes at a young age,” says Karachalios.

He would like weight gain to disappear from sport completely. For him there is only one consistent solution: a weight must be set months before the fight and the athletes must be asked to weigh in. “So everyone would compete at their natural weight. A weight that they ultimately feel comfortable with.”

Michael Bauer, ntv

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