PROMINENT ASIAN MIXED martial arts promotion ONE Championship has announced it is banning weight-cutting by dehydration, weeks after one of its fighters died, reportedly following an attempt to make the weight for a bout.

China-born Yang Jian Bing, 21, who was due for a Manila bout, collapsed on 10 December and was taken to a hospital where he died a day later. Authorities in the Philippines this week said a heart attack caused his death.

ONE Championship’s statement about the ban and its new weight-tracking programme did not mention Yang.

“By banning weight-cutting by dehydration, we are leading the way globally for enhanced safety standards for professional MMA athletes,” said ONE Championship chief executive officer Victor Cui in a statement.

One Championship said it would regularly monitor its fighters’ weight throughout fight week as a way of reducing the widespread practice of fighters inching their way into categories by dehydrating themselves.

They will be weighed three hours before an event and can be disqualified if they do not fit within their weight class. This will replace the practice also used in many other combat sports, such as boxing, where competitors need to meet weight limits at just one weigh-in, allowing them to dehydrate themselves beforehand.

“I invite the other two major global MMA organisations, Bellator and UFC, to follow in our footsteps to protect athletes and to eliminate the process of weight cutting by dehydration,” Cui said.

Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin, ONE Championship’s vice president, said: “Today I’m proud to have been involved with developing the new weigh-in program for ONE athletes. As a former MMA champion, I’ve been through the process of weight-cutting by dehydration countless times and I know first-hand how it affects an athlete physically.

“I personally understand the importance of safety and competing at your very best as a professional MMA athlete and after reviewing the new regulations and policies governing the weigh-in procedures and contracted weight limits, this new program does both for our athletes.”

According to ONE Championship, who plan to hold 24 events in 2016, here’s how the programme will work:

• Athletes must submit their current walking weight and daily training weight regularly. Athletes will input and track their daily weight online via a dedicated web portal. Athletes may input data weekly but must include daily weights.
• Athletes will be assigned to their weight class based on collated data and random weight checks. Athletes are not allowed to drop a weight class when less than 8 weeks out from an event.
• During fight week, weights are checked daily. Urine specific gravity will also be checked the day after arrival and 3 hours prior to the event. Athletes must be within their weight class and pass specific gravity hydration tests all week and up to 3 hours before the event. If an athlete falls outside the weight, or fails a test, they are disqualified from the event. Doctors may request additional testing at their discretion.
• Catchweight bouts are allowed. However, the athlete with the higher weight will not be heavier than 105% of the lighter opponent’s weight.
• ONE will conduct random weight checks on athletes at our discretion.
• Athletes may petition to change weight classes outside of the 8-week competition zone and must be within their new desired weight at that time. In addition, athletes must pass a specific gravity urine test when their weight is within the limits of the newly petitioned weight class. ONE doctors can request additional testing to determine the amount of weight drop allowed over a specific time.
• The usage of IVs for the purpose of rehydration will not be allowed.

– Additional reporting by Paul Dollery

- © AFP, 2015

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