Joe Rogan wants the UFC to end ‘sanctioned cheating’ rule that could have potentially fatal consequences

In a sport that revolves around damaging an opponent with kicks, elbows, and punches, one of the most dangerous aspects of competing in MMA under the UFC umbrella remains the weight-cutting process.

As of September 2024, if a UFC athlete misses weight; they are simply fined a portion of their fight purse and as long as the miss wasn’t too egregious, the bouts are more often than not simply moved to a ‘catchweight’.

Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty ImagesJoe Rogan wants the UFC to remove the entire weight-cutting rulesetYet putting a body that’s already under the stress of a full training camp through the process of cutting up to 40lbs, only to then rehydrate just 24 hours before a sanctioned MMA fight can have potentially fatal consequences.

Given the impact on both fighter health and the competitive nature of the sport, veteran commentator Joe Rogan would like nothing more than to see weight-cutting removed entirely from the UFC.

“No one should be cutting weight kids,” Rogan stated on a recent episode of the JRE Podcast, explaining how “I think what they really should do is just find out what you f***** actually weigh and just stop this nonsense.”

Rogan believes that the idea that somebody could cut down to a lower weight class, such as lightweight, when they are in fact a natural welterweight or even a middleweight, should be eradicated from the sport.

“It should be looked at the same way that steroids are looked at, it should be looked at the same way that all other kinds of cheating are looked at – it’s sanctioned cheating… And [there should be] more options for weight classes.

“One of the things that they say about head injuries and death in boxing is that the vast majority of them don’t take place at heavyweight – so the guys that hit the hardest are not the guys who are getting these horrible brain injuries or dead inside the ring.

“They’re not cutting weight, and if you look at the guys who die, a lot of them are cutting,” claimed Rogan, with his comments coming only a few days after another rather scary moment at UFC Vegas 97.

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On September 6, middleweight prospect Dylan Budka stepped onto the scales two-and-a-half pounds over the divisional limit for non-title fights; before almost falling off them completely as he started shaking from dehydration.

The American even needed the assistance of several UFC staff members to get off the stage and the very next day, he took 23 significant strikes from Andre Petroski, 16 of which landed to the head.

“A lot of the guys who are dying are dying in weight classes where they cut a lot of weight,” stated Rogan, who became increasingly frustrated as the conversation around the cutting process continued.

“F*** all this weight cutting, it’s just cheating and also the f**** drama of seeing if a guy dehydrated himself enough 24 hours before a cage fight is somehow interesting to people? It’s ridiculous.

“Let them eat, let them hydrate themselves, f*** all this weighing in, figure out what you weigh when you sign the contract and then leave it alone, if the guys a pound over or a pound under, who gives a f***.”

$150M: Tyson Fury leaves Conor McGregor in stitches after Anthony Joshua’s KO lossRogan ended his rant by noting how the whole ruleset was “nonsense” and that just because weight cutting has been a part of UFC history for decades, that doesn’t mean that it’s set in stone.

“It’s nonsense, it’s a part of the culture that can be eradicated – I don’t think it’s impossible.”

There have reportedly been 20 recorded fatalities in mixed martial arts, several of which have been attributed to extreme weight cutting and/or severe dehydration.

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