Georges St-Pierre Says Early Weigh-Ins Do The Opposite of What They’re Intended

The weight cutting in MMA has been a problem everyone points out, but few can offer a solution. The latest scare was Kevin Lee’s suspenseful weigh-in before UFC 216, where he almost failed to make the championship limit which would have canceled the main event a day before the fight. He looked bad on that Friday, but it could have been way worse. People have recently died directly from the drain of their weight cuts. Georges St-Pierre recently spoke up about the issue and believes that the early weigh-ins do nothing but increase the problem.

#UFC217 headliner Georges St-Pierre doesn’t like the early weigh-ins policy that wasn’t around last time he was here https://t.co/yDikXXGzLC pic.twitter.com/RYVHSM3sm0

— MMAjunkie (@MMAjunkie) October 26, 2017

“I think the new rule of doing the weigh-in earlier is bad because it makes the fighter cut more weight. They have more time for recuperation before the fight. I think it’s the worst thing they could do. It’s good for rehydration because you have more time, but if you know you have more time, you’re going to cut more weight. You understand? I think it’s bad. I think it’s very bad. “You could do [more weight classes], or you could the weigh-in over several days so everyone will stay in their weight class. Like, 30 days before, every week you have to weigh-in, on the day of the fight you have to weigh in and you can not be a certain weight more [than what you’re fighting at]. That would make sense. It’s always been an issue and it is what it is.” — Georges St-Pierre speaking to MMA Junkie. 

FINALLY someone who is echoing what I’ve been saying about these early morning weigh ins. GSP has an great suggestion on weighing fighters. https://t.co/DX0biRphmK

— Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMaster_UFC) October 26, 2017

It looks like Georges St-Pierre is also in favor of new weight classes, but doesn’t support the idea of earlier weigh-ins that was implemented since he’s been gone from the sport. Luckily, he’ll be fighting in a higher weight class than he competed in originally. With nine days until the fight, St-Pierre allegedly only has 10lbs to cut. Let’s hope that we don’t have any stressful weigh-in moments before UFC 217, which was a card that seemed too good to be true. If it stays in tact, it’s in contention for best card of the year on paper.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 10/26/2017.