10 Lessons Learned From UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Souza

9. Cutting Weight Needs To Be Addressed, And Soon

The fact that just a week after Renan Barao fell ill cutting weight, another fighter missed weight leading up to a UFC event, is far from surprising. Fighters miss weight from time to time. What's scary about the Barao situation, and now the Oliveira incident, are the implications to fighter health and safety. To be fair, as far as we know, Oliveira didn't fall sick from cutting weight, like Barao did. However, Oliveira was already fighting an infection, still cutting weight, and putting a tremendous strain on his body. He missed weight as a result, then grew even more sick, and was pulled from his bout with Nick Lentz altogether. The point here is, Oliveira should not have been cutting weight in the first place - he should have been focusing on his health. Although it's not the UFC's responsibility to play doctor to fighters, and they have to rely on the fighters themselves to relay news of injury or illness, the second a figher is reportedly ill with anything more than a nagging cold, their weight cut should be immediately halted. It should be company policy. Fighters now have health coverage, which they did not in past years, so there's really no need to risk one's health this way.