18/08/2026
Making weight is only useful if you can still perform.
A proper cut is built across the full fight camp , not rescued in the final 24 hours.
➡️ Plan early
Aim for approximately 0.5–1% body mass loss per week across an 8–10-week camp. This reduces the need for extreme last-minute restriction and gives you a better chance of retaining strength, power and lean mass.
➡️ Fuel the work
During weight descent, the ISSN recommends:
Carbohydrate: 3–4 g/kg/day
Protein: 1.6–2.2 g/kg/day
Fat: 0.7–1.3 g/kg/day
These are starting benchmarks, adjusted to body composition, training load and the individual athlete. Cutting weight does not mean removing the fuel needed for sparring, conditioning and recovery.
➡️ Understand fight-week weight
Fight week is not the time to lose significant body fat. Short-term scale changes come largely from gut content, glycogen-bound water and fluid.
Each gram of glycogen is stored with approximately 2.7 g of water. A planned carbohydrate reduction and short low-fibre phase can therefore reduce scale weight ➡️ without simply starving the athlete.
➡️ Match the cut to the weigh-in
The shorter the recovery window, the smaller the acute cut should be.
A professional MMA athlete with 24–36 hours to recover is not the model for an amateur boxer weighing in only a few hours before competing.
➡️ Rehydrate and refuel properly
Use an oral rehydration solution first, followed by familiar, easily digested carbohydrate at a tolerable rate ➡️ initially up to 60 g per hour. Keep large servings of fibre and fat low during the early recovery period.
Diuretics, laxatives and uncontrolled dehydration are not performance strategies.
The objective is simple: make weight, restore fluid and fuel, then enter the ring or cage ready to perform.
If every cut ends in panic, starvation and excessive sweating, the problem normally started earlier in camp.
