Many amateur fighters, wrestlers, jiu jitsu practitioners make the mistake of trying to cut weight just by themselves. This is a huge mistake you shouldn’t make!
Here is why fighters don’t cut weight by themselves and always bring their teammate to help them in fight week:
1. Emotional support
You might think as a fighter that you are tough, and you can cut weight by yourself, but I guarantee you that this is only an illusion.
Even the toughest fighters in the UFC lose determination and give up once things get hard in the sauna.
If you are cutting more than 15 pounds on fight week then you will definitely need your teammates’ support.
The last 6 or 7 pounds are the hardest, and this is generally when fighters give up because of dehydration, thirst, low blood sugar, and lack of energy.
You are not yourself when you are cutting those last 6 or 7 pounds, your brain isn’t itself, you will feel dizzy, your blood pressure will drop, and you will see black whenever you want to stand up.
You won’t even have the energy to think if you should resist or give up!
A natural instinctive thing that happens is that the fighter simply asks for water and doesn’t even understand what his teammates are saying to motivate him.
For all the above, bring your teammates with you, they will prevent you from just grabbing a bottle of water and putting it in your mouth.
2. You will need physical help for sure
The last few pounds will be very hard on you, and you won’t have any energy to do things by yourself.
You will need someone to:
Help you out of the sauna or the bathtub
Wrap you in towels
Put foil on you to keep the temperature up
Prepare food for you during fight week and after the weigh-in
Watch this video to understand the teamwork that it takes in a weight cut
