Gunnar Nelson discusses issues with cutting weight

There has been much talk lately of weight-cutting and the dangers it poses to a fighter’s health especially given the recent IV ban.

Johny Hendricks is one of many fighters who cuts a tremendous amount of weight to fight at welterweight, and recently it landed him in the hospital leading up to his UFC 192 fight against Tyrone Woodley.

UFC welterweight Gunnar Nelson spoke to Submission Radio to discuss the dangers of weight cutting and why more fighters need to fight at their natural weight.

“I just think guys should fight [at] their weight. And as it is now, it’s not really the fighters, it’s the rules,” Nelson told Submission Radio. “The fighters are just taking advantage of the rules, and they’re working it the way it is. And they’re actually fighting guys their weight, because everybody cuts so much weight, except me maybe and a few others.”

“But I think they should change it so that people can just fight closer to the weight, so that people don’t have to be cutting all this weight to have to fight people their size.”

So what does Nelson suggest we do about the weight cutting issue? He believes we should change the weight-class limit.

“I just think it’s a stupid, ridiculous situation that we’ve built up, and I feel like there’s ways around it and there’s ways to get rid of it,” he said. “Like, that you can’t exceed into the next weight class, or over the next weight class above you, or something like that.”

“People don’t have to go through all this cutting. Like I said, there’s been a lot of accidents, and it’s definitely not good for the athletes in this sport. It’s not good for your health, it’s not good for your brain. It’s just it’s not good. And I don’t see why we should be doing this. I think we should get rid of it, and I think we should get rid of it quickly.”

What are your thoughts on weight-cutting? Is it a fighter’s decision to cut weight and potentially damage their body, or should there be stricter rules? Sound off below!