Rhonda Rousey: her weigh-in weight vs her fight weight - a visual (x-post r/pics)

[robindenny]

@hansels wait can you explain how this happens? how does it ruin their kidneys?

 

[hansels]

@robindenny massive dehydration. They'll hot sauna, run wearing a garbage bag like suit, jump in ice baths and not drink water to lose lots of water weight.

 

[galu]

@hansels

There are men who cut 30lbs+ in MMA and wrestling.

It's ridiculous that kind of stuff is allowed. Professional boxers have gotten hurt to the point of nearly dying because of their opponent games the weight in and comes in almost 30lbs heavier.

 

[arisemydarling]

@galu

their opponent games the weight in and comes in almost 30lbs heavier

Respectfully, "gaming the weight in" is part of the sport. You can't blame people for playing within the rules of the sport. If MMA/wrestling/boxing federations wanted to people to fight close to their weigh-in weights, they could do the weigh ins shortly before the fight. You can see this in powerlifting feds -- USAPL/IPF weigh in the day of the meet, whereas other feds allow weighing in the day before and thus a much higher degree of weight manipulation.

 

[galu]

@arisemydarling

You can't blame people for playing within the rules of the sport.

I'm not blaming the athletes, I'm blaming the rules. Not everyone can cut the much weight and it can lead to significant mismatches. Some guys come in multiple weight classes above their opponent, it's ridiculous. What's the point of setting a weight limit if you can fight 30 lbs above it? It could be easily fixed by moving the weigh in closer to the fight.

 

[arisemydarling]

@galu

Not everyone can cut the much weight and it can lead to significant mismatches.

Right, but my point is that as the sport exists today, being able to cut weight is part of the skill set of the sport. You're right to call it a mismatch, but it's a mismatch in the skill of the athletes, not just in their sizes.

 

[hansels]

@galu In extreme, Mark Hunt started training camp at 340lbs. He actually lost 20lbs in 24 hours to make weight at 265lbs, this was back in 2014.

It's totally crazy, I'd say it's hard to get rid of. It's a lot of money at stake and they do what it takes to win.

 

[dawn16]

@hansels I went on a first date with my now-boyfriend the day before he had a powerlifting meet, so he hadn't had any food or water that day. I think his delirium helped me seem more appealing than I normally would, ha.

 

[ccn]

@jduck1986 Honestly, she doesn't look that different to me, accounting for differences in light and position. She still has abs, you can still faintly see ribs, and her shorts are bigger in the second picture so you can't see her hips.

 

[knowhisjoy77]

@ccn Well shes about 15 pounds heavier..

 

[_sentry_]

@jduck1986 Keep in mind in her fight night, she has something called "rebound effect" her body after dehydrating gets to hold a lot more water then normally would. In simple terms she's bloated.

 

[christfollower13]

@jduck1986 In her biography she actually says she can't maintain that weight without becoming bulimic again. Her body does not function properly at that weight and to hold it there she either has to drop a bunch of muscle and starve herself or be so dehydrated she can't function.

 

[dawn16]

@christfollower13 Yeah, she said she sits naturally at 160-165 lbs.

 

[dawn16]

@jduck1986 I saw this yesterday and found it really interesting. While she obviously has added some weight, I personally think it's kind of hard to tell in her torso just how much leaner she was. The before pic has her bottoms really low, way below her hip bones, while the second picture has her pants up near her belly button. I also look much leaner when I wear my shorts below my hips bones as opposed to way up high. The lighting is also really different. She just looks really dry in the first pic and regular in the second, so there is an argument that it is maintainable but she probably wouldn't be as strong or the best. Either way she's a strong-ass lady.

 

[veegee]

@dawn16 She is severely dehydrated. It's something almost every fighter does before the weigh-ins. It's not maintainable for her, because of the dehydration.

 

[fishbowl3]

@jduck1986 Nice visual. One small quibble, though:

it's a physique that cannot be maintained indefinitely

I don't think the comparison illustrates that the super-lean body is impossible to maintain but rather that she's in better fighting shape when she's a few BF% points higher. I know plenty of women who maintain a lean look all the time for aesthetic reasons, but there's no question that they'd be stronger if they put on a little more weight.

 

[inall]

@fishbowl3 Absolutely. Compare fighters who are ripped to those who have some cushion when they get in the cage, the fleshier almost always have better gas tanks

 

[jduck1986]

@fishbowl3 Agreed. I should have been more clear on that point. Being athletically fit is a different game than being aesthetically fit.

 

[felipe_]

@fishbowl3 It's all water weight. At most 1/2-1 lb is fat. If she was getting a dexa scan done I believe she would get a better BF% from after than before as dexa takes in water as muscle.

 

[emotionally_destroyed]

@fishbowl3 But when she gets to the fight she is not a few bf% higher, right? There is very little time between the two pictures - the difference is water weight primarily.