Biggest Weight Cutters in the UFC (Top 10)
Have you ever been following some diet program and putting in hard work just to lose a couple of pounds? Do you remember how hard that was? Now, can you imagine MMA fighters are losing up to 30+ pounds in less than a week to compete in the weight class below their natural one?
What’s the point, you might wonder?
Even though this sounds crazy, fighters do this to gain a size advantage over the fighters who fight in the lower weight classes. For instance, there are fighters who walk around at +200 lbs in the offseason. Once they sign up for a fight, they will drop their weight all the way down to 170 lbs to fight in the welterweight division. They can achieve this with a strict diet, nutrition, and of course, dehydration. Some of the fighters in our list cut over 17 lbs in a single day!
Once they pass the weight on Saturday, they will gain back up to 20% of their body weight in less than 24h. This way, they can enter their welterweight bout (170 lbs) on Sunday weighing in 200 lbs and enjoying a huge size advantage. And fighters do this for every weight class, even the heavyweight.
As one would assume, the science behind all this is fraught with danger (more info on fighters that died due to weight cut see “Rondel Clark”). Weight cutting often leads to serious health problems, and even death in some cases. Let’s not forget how many UFC fights have been canceled because of weight cutting issues.
But in spite of all dangers, it seems like fighters are pushing their bodies like never before. In our list below, some of the fighters cut up to 50 pounds in just a few days!
10. Daniel Cormier
In spite of being only 5'11", Cormier is a natural heavyweight who spent a better part of his career fighting as a light heavyweight. In his career, he was able to win two UFC titles in separate divisions without missing a scale once. But, this doesn’t mean Cormier wasn’t losing a lot of weight and going through some bad cuts.
During his career, Cormier has stated many times his walking weight was around 235–240 lbs. But there were times when he got even bigger, close to 260lbs. To hit the scale at 205lbs, he needed to cut over 40lbs during training camps.
According to Cormier, his hardest weight cut was the one leading up to Anthony Johnson's fight at UFC 210. During the official weigh-ins, he missed the scale on his first attempt by being 1.2 pounds over the limit.
This meant Cormier needed to go backstage and try to lose 1.2 lbs, which was a lot. But to everyone’s surprise, he came back just two minutes later to weigh 205 lbs. And on the fight night, Cormier weighed an amazing 236 lbs!
Many fans and pros thought Cormier cheated by putting his hands on the towel. Here, watch the video and make your own view of it.
9. Conor McGregor
Conor might be the best instance of the contrast between how fighters look before and after the weight cut. In some way, Conor has always been looking healthy, focused, and confident. But oh boy, he looked like the total opposite while trying to make 145 pounds.
Conor’s walking weight can go up to 180 pounds. In his case, weight cutting plays no factor when he fights at 170 or even at 155 pounds. He never had a hard time meeting those numbers.
But as we all know, Conor kicked off his UFC career fighting in the 145 lbs division. And McGregor would kill himself to cut those 10 extra pounds. I mean, it was horrible to watch him standing on the scale.
Look no further from his bout against Jose Aldo at UFC 194 if you are looking for example. He looked drained, fragile, and spending his last reserves of energy to be conscious. According to rumors, he weighed 174 lbs a day after.
Many people assumed Conor would not look good in a fight either. Yet, he went on to TKO the great Aldo in just 13 seconds to win the 145 lbs crown. This was his last fight in that division, mainly because of the brutal weight cut.
8. Anthony “Rumble” Johnson
We all know Johnson as one of the hardest punchers in the history of the sport. For many years, he had been terrorizing the UFC’s 205lbs weight class, and many people crumbled under his power.
But, how many of you can recall that Johnson once fought in a 170lbs weight class. Although our minds can’t process this, it is true, he was cutting that much weight.
In his own words, Johnson’s walking weight was around 210lbs when he fought as a welterweight. Like this was not crazy enough, Johnson weighed 230 lbs before entering a training camp to prepare for Dan Hardy. He dropped 60lbs in less than two months for that fight!
Back in the 170 lbs days…Thank God that’s over with! I’m surprise that I didn’t hurt myself trying to make that weight. I was extremely blessed that no serious damage ever happen to my body….- Anthony Johnson instagram post
7. Yoel Romero
Romero might be the scariest 185lbs fighter in history. He looks like a Greek god and hits like a truck. But despite being all jacked up, Romero never failed a drug test. What he did fail, however, was the weight.
Romero has a huge body frame for the 185 lbs division, and many think his weight cuts start from 220lbs. At UFC 241 against Paulo Costa, Romero weighed 207.2 lbs on fight night, which means he gained 12.3% body weight.
On top of that, he carries a lot of muscles. As a result, Romero has missed the scale many times and was going through some hard cuts. Notably, the one leading up to his rematch with Robert Whittaker at UFC 225 was the worst one.
Romero arrived at the official weigh-ins looking like a dead man walking. He missed the scale by 1 pound and was barely standing upon coming back to have another go. It looked like his mind wasn’t there at all, he was totally exhausted and dehydrated.
6. Derren Till
Till is a fighter with perhaps the biggest body frame to ever compete in the UFC’s 170lbs weight class. The man looked twice as big compared to every opponent he faced as a welterweight. But on the other side, saying his weight cuts were brutal would be an understatement.
Till gets really big when he is out of the competition. Speaking on the “MMA Hour” show, Till said he walks at around 210 pounds when outside the training camp. We just can’t even imagine what it feels or looks like to lose 40lbs in less than a week and what that does to your body.
The best example of how horrible Till’s weight cuts are was his fight against Stephen Thompson. Leading up to the bout, Till missed weight by 3.5 pounds which is a lot.
However, the troubles started when he went backstage to cut some more. The videos showed Till lying on the floor with the pile of blankets on top of him. He looked drained, exhausted, and even sick. In his own words, he even went temporarily blind while trying to lose those 3.5 pounds.
On the fight night, Till weighed 200 pounds which means he gained around 18% of his body weight. That’s insane…
5. James Irvin
We just can’t go down with this list without James Irvin. The former WEC heavyweight champion and the UFC fighter has also been known as a man who cuts a lot of weight. And his weight cut prior to the Alessio Sakara fight in 2008 is still one of the most dangerous in the history of the sport.
During his WEC career, Irvin weighed around 230 lbs. When he joined the UFC roster in 2005, he decided to drop some weight and compete in 205 lbs. This 25 lbs weight cut was already big, but, Irving went a step further.
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After losing to Anderson Silva in the light heavyweight bout, Irvin dropped even more weight to join the middleweight roster. This meant Irvin had to cut 45 lbs to hit the scale at 185, or in other words, cut 19.6% of his entire body weight.
Irvin arrived at the weigh-ins looking ripped, drained and it seemed like he had -2% body fat. He looked so bad that UFC president Dana White didn’t want to see him fighting in the middleweight division ever again.
4. Cris Cyborg
Cyborg is, without a doubt, a woman who suffered the most when it comes to weight cutting. I mean, she has become synonymous with brutal weight cuts. There are plenty of videos on the web showing her struggle while trying to lose weight during fight week. And trust us, those videos are painful to watch.
When she is not in a training camp, Cyborg weighs around 170lbs. She once posted a tweet showing she weighed 175 lbs three days after cutting to 145 lbs.
When she joined the UFC roster, the heaviest division for women was 135 lbs. This meant that Cyborg needed to cut over 30lbs in less than a few days before the weigh-ins. And she would kill herself to do that.
Leading up to her fight against Leslie Smith at UFC 198, Cyborg made a decision to film her weight cutting process. This video was probably supposed to be educative. But, it ended up being a horror movie.
In spite of being awful to watch, the entire vlog is a great reminder of how crazy weight cutting is. Looking at Cyborg crying and praying during the weight cut will change the way you see the entire MMA game.
3. TJ Dillashaw
Dillashaw is the former UFC bantamweight champ who was able to pull off one of the biggest weight cuts.
After defending his 135 lbs belt two times, Dillashaw went down in weight to face Henry Cejudo for the flyweight title. But losing this much weight was easier said than done as he was already cutting a lot of weight.
At the time, fans were suspicious whether TJ could pull it off. When he signed the contract to meet Cejudo, Dillashaw weighed 155lbs and had 8% body fat. I mean, there was not much room for him to go below 135lbs. The man was already ripped.
Dillashaw was able to make weight but looked sick standing on the scale. It was weird to see him standing looking like a zombie during an interview and saying this was one of his “easiest” weight cuts.
This would later prove false as he went on to fail two drug tests for EPO he used during the weight cutting process. Like that wasn’t enough, he got KO’d by Cejudo within the first minute of the bout.
2. Max Holloway
Holloway is a former UFC 145lbs champ who is often seen as the goat of that division. Apart from his advanced fighting skills, the secret behind his success lays in him being long and tall. But, that comes at a certain price.
Holloway has been one of the biggest weight cutters in the UFC. Ariel Helwani once asked him about what’s his walking weight with Max not being direct with his response. But, he left some rooms for us to believe his offseason weight is above 180 lbs.
Six days before the UFC 223, Holloway jumped in on a six days notice to face Khabib Nurmagomedov. He had less than a week to hit the scale at 155 lbs, but couldn’t make it. The commission overlooking the event stopped Holloway from cutting weight because he looked unhealthy.
Speaking on the “MMA Hour” show, Holloway said he was “possibly” over 180lbs when he started the weight cut. Now, just imagine though what type of hell he is going through to go down to 145lbs.
Against Jose Aldo, Holloway weighed 178lbs on fight night that took place at 145 pounds. That’s insane!
1. Gleison Tibau
In his prime, Tibau was a top UFC fighter and an absolute mad man when it comes to weight cutting. Some of his cuts were legendary, but we are not sure how he did it without harming his health. Tibau had a huge body frame and was carrying a lot of muscles. We truly believe he could have won some bodybuilding contests in his prime.
Tibau fought his entire UFC career in the 155 lbs weight class. However, his walking weight was, sometimes, over 220 lbs. Yes, you read that well. Most 205 and 185 lbs fighters have a similar offseason weight. Yoel Romero for instance often starts his training camp being 225 lbs. And here we have Tibau cutting from 220 lbs all the way down to 155 lbs.
Prior to his UFC 156 fight against Evan Dunham, Tibau weighed an amazing 66 lbs over the 155 lbs limit. One day before the official weigh-ins, Tibau still had to lose around 17 lbs and he was able to pull it off! What’s more, he went on to fight all three rounds and lose a close split decision to Dunham.
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