Efrain Escudero misses weight
With today’s modern mixed martial arts camps, advanced nutrition plans and overall more professional environment, cutting weight ahead of weigh-ins is supposed to be a fairly exact science, and at the
UFC level, few MMA fighters miss weight. But Efrain Escudero, set to fight on Wednesday night at the UFC’s Ultimate Fight Night 22 in the co-main event, missed his weight on Tuesday afternoon, coming in three pounds overweight.
It’s fairly rare to see a fighter miss by that much. Escudero will be fined 20 percent of his purse, 10 percent of which will go to his opponent, Charles Oliveira. The limit of the lightweight division
is 155lb, but there is a one-pound allowance for non-title fights, meaning Escudero could have made weight at 156lb. But he came in at 159lb, and did not try to weigh in again, suggesting he knew he had no chance of making weight and did not want to drain
his body further. The fight will go on at catch weight.
The move could have an interesting impact on the fight. Cutting weight generally involves dehydrating the body, and would have meant that Escudero would have had to dehydrate himself beforehand to try
and make weight. That would have put him at risk of running out of gas and faltering against
Oliveira. Recently at UFC 117, Thiago Alves fought Jon Fitch and came in drained from his weight cut (he was a half-pound overweight), and
looked tired as Fitch out wrestled him for three rounds to earn the unanimous decision.
It also may not bode well for Escudero’s future in the UFC, or at least in the lightweight division. After Alves missed weight (he had missed it before), UFC president Dana White came down hard on the
fighter, suggesting he should move up a weight class. If Escudero continues to have problems making weight, White may
eventually force him to move up to welterweight. He could also fall out of favour with the company. Of the 11 fighters who have won a season
of The Ultimate Fighter reality show (Escudero won season eight), only one has been cut. That was Travis Lutter, who infamously missed weight before his scheduled title bout, and was cut one fight later from the promotion.
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