High Prevalence and Magnitude of Rapid Weight Loss in Mixed Martial Arts Athletes

Abstract

The practice of rapid weight loss (RWL) in mixed martial arts (MMA) is an increasing concern but data remain scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence, magnitude, methods, and influencers of RWL in professional and amateur MMA athletes. MMA athletes (N = 314; 287 men and 27 women) across nine weight categories (strawweight to heavyweight), completed a validated questionnaire adapted for this sport. Sex-specific data were analyzed, and subgroup comparisons were made between athletes competing at professional and amateur levels. Most athletes purposefully reduced body weight for competition (men: 97.2%; women: 100%). The magnitude of RWL in 1 week prior to weigh-in was significantly greater for professional athletes compared with those competing at amateur level (men: 5.9% vs. 4.2%; women: 5.0% vs. 2.1% of body weight; p < .05). In the 24 hr preceding weigh-in, the magnitude of RWL was greater at professional than amateur level in men (3.7% vs. 2.5% of body weight; p < .05). Most athletes “always” or “sometimes” used water loading (72.9%), restricting fluid intake (71.3%), and sweat suits (55.4%) for RWL. Coaches were cited as the primary source of influence on RWL practices (men: 29.3%; women: 48.1%). There is a high reported prevalence of RWL in MMA, at professional and amateur levels. Our findings, constituting the largest inquiry to date, call for urgent action from MMA organizations to safeguard the health and well-being of athletes competing in this sport.

Prevalence, Magnitude and Methods of Rapid Weight Loss Reported by Male Mixed Martial Arts Athletes in Ireland

“…Despite the increasing popularity of MMA [12], and the concerns expressed around the safety of weight-making practices in the sport [16,19], there has been a scarcity of studies describing the prevalence and magnitude of RWL by these athletes, or indications of the personnel who are influencing these practices. During the execution of the present study, two other reports emerged describing weight-making practices in MMA in athlete cohorts of n = 70 [23] and n = 314 [24]. The findings of these studies are largely confirmed in our study, but in addition, we report an estimate of prevalence of the use of hot salt baths by MMA athletes.…”

“…Like other work [23,24], methods that reduce body water stores (i.e., water loading, fluid restriction, and hot salt baths) are the most commonly employed methods for RWL by this cohort. All but one (97%) of the n = 30 of those surveyed lost weight in order to compete, with water loading being the most prevalent method employed at a frequency of “always” or “sometimes” in 90% of respondents.…”

“…Subsequently, the questionnaire has been modified and utilised for MMA athletes [7,8,14,23,24], and other combat sports [25,26]. Similar to previous work [25], our modifications were to change all instances of “judo” to the combat sport of interest to this study, i.e., “MMA”, and to add questions that better reflected current practices related to MMA such as water loading and hot salt baths [7,16,17,23,24,25,27]. Specifically, we added the option to answer “hot salt baths” and “water loading” under the question “How often did you use each one of the following methods to lose weight before competition?” with the same frequency options of always, sometimes, almost never, never used, and I don’t use anymore.…”

Combat Sport Nutrition: A Pragmatic Case Study in an Elite Mixed Martial Arts Athlete

“…While extreme, this case not unique and MMA has experienced two RWL-related fatalities in recent years [4]. Both were associated with severe dehydration achieved via potentially harmful methods such as sauna use, training in sweat (rubber) suits, and use of diuretics: all commonly used RWL methods in MMA [6]. Even when RWL is more conservative (e.g., ~5% body mass), energy restriction and dehydration can acutely increase the risk of infection and injury [7,8].…”

Acute Effects of Supervised Making Weight on Health Markers, Hormones and Body Composition in Muay Thai Fighters

“…However, jockeys, power lifters, bodybuilders, gymnasts, and fitness practitioners are among the individuals that are subjected to certain body mass criteria or weight classification [ 2 ]. In this sense, the colloquially called “making weight” (or “weight-cutting”) is a common practice that is not exclusive for Olympic sports (such as boxing, wrestling, or taekwondo) but also used in sports disciplines like kickboxing, MMA, and jujitsu [ 3 , 4 ]. This practice is also frequently reported in powerlifting and bodybuilding [ 5 , 6 ].…”