Israel Adesanya explains why fighters who miss weight should be fined 90% of their purse

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya explained why fighters who miss weight for their fights should be fined 90% of their purse.

Adesanya, who defeated Paulo Costa in the main event of UFC 253 to defend his belt, clearly wasn’t happy that two fighters on the card missed weight. On the main card, Zubaira Tukhugov came in at 150lbs for his featherweight bout against Hakeem Dawodu, and on the prelims, Ludovit Klein also weighed 150lbs for his fight against Shane Young, who is a teammate of Adesanya at City Kickboxing in New Zealand.

Both Tukhugov and Klein were fined 30% of their respective purses for missing weight, but in the eyes of the champ Adesanya, that’s not enough. Speaking to the media following UFC 253, Adesanya explained why he believes that fighters who miss weight should be hammered by the UFC and the athletic commissions with a 90% fine.

Israel Adesanya says that the UFC should fine people 90% of their purse if they miss weight, because some people are rich enough to just pay the fine and be heavier.

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) September 27, 2020

Israel Adesanya says that the UFC should fine people 90% of their purse if they miss weight, because some people are rich enough to just pay the fine and be heavier. (H/T Aaron Bronsteter)

It certainly is an interesting concept put forward by Adesanya, but one that is likely to be deemed too harsh by athletic commissions. Instead, maybe athletic commissions could deduct 10% per pound over the weight limit. In the case of both Tukhugov and Klein, that would have resulted in a 40% fine as they both weighed in four pounds over the 146lbs non-title limit. That seems to be a pretty fair way to do things.

Another option would be to take a point from a fighter who misses weight, or take multiple points if the weight cut is bad. That would allow the fighter to still get in the Octagon and try to win their fight, but they would be doing so well behind on the scorecards before the fight even starts. It’s a system that is used in Asia’s ROAD FC, though they can also take away the entire purse, which seems harsh on the fighters.

Do you agree with Israel Adesanya and his ideas of higher fines for weight misses?