New morning weigh-in for UFC 199 gets an early thumbs-up

Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping will be at each other’s throats Saturday night in pursuit of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight belt, but the two adversaries found shared happiness Friday over the UFC’s new early weigh-in experiment.

“One-hundred-eighty-five on the dot! Championship weight, baby!” Bisping roared just after 10 a.m. while standing atop the official California State Athletic Commission scale set up on the lower floor of the Manhattan Beach Marriott.

Rockhold, the reigning champion, also met the 185-pound limit on the mark for his UFC 199 main event at the Forum, and bellowed, “Let’s eat!”

A first for the UFC, the morning weigh-in has been advocated by Andy Foster, the California commission’s executive officer, and Jeff Novitzky, UFC’s vice president of fighter safety, as an effective response to concerns that fighters haven’t been afforded proper time to rehydrate between late Friday afternoon weigh-ins and Saturday night bouts.

“This is a great opportunity to change the game,” said Rockhold, who said he shed seven pounds Friday morning and expects to rehydrate to close to 200 pounds. “It takes a lot of stress off the fighter, and I think it’s the best you’re going to see from me [Saturday night] by taking away this strain [of remaining on weight throughout the day].”

“Universal praise for this,” Novitzky said.

The enthusiasm was shared by bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and his challenger Urijah Faber, who made weight at 135 and 134.5 pounds, respectively.

By 10:20 a.m., 18 of the 26 Saturday fighters had weighed in, including Faber, who showed fatigue by resting on a chair, raising his legs atop another chair and exhaling, “Made it … .”

By 12:33 p.m., all 26 weigh-ins were complete – all on weight – as featherweight Clay Guida made the 145-pound limit.

“I like this. I want it to be like this from now on,” said middleweight Hector Lombard, the first UFC fighter on the morning scale. “This is better for us.”

Lightweight Dustin Poirier agreed. “Usually, I have to make weight and wait all day … travel to the venue, travel back to eat. This is better for the sake of everybody.”

Novitzky arranged for two tables of drinks including water, Muscle Milk and specialty electrolyte packets to be set up a few feet from the scale, along with fruit cups, yogurt, bagels, Nutella and bread.

“We consulted with experts in high-performance nutrition. We told the fighters it’d be there, that it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving dinner, but it’s something that will provide them energy for the fight,” Novitzky said.

In October, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which handles UFC drug testing, banned the use of intravenous fluids by fighters to speed rehydration.

While the IV practice was widely used by fighters seeking to replenish themselves following afternoon weigh-ins, USADA officials sought to eliminate a method that can also be used to hide performance-enhancing drug use.

Meanwhile, after the hospitalizations of at least four fighters in California from weight-cutting in the past two years, the athletic commission’s Foster conducted a December summit on the matter and pursued the morning weigh-in plan he first conducted in April before middleweight boxing champion Gennady Golovkin’s title defense.

Foster and Novitzky planned to interview the fighters throughout the process, including after their 4 p.m. Friday appearance at a staged, televised weigh-in for fans inside the Forum, and after their bouts. The UFC will conduct internal meetings on the matter next week.

Novitzky said weighing the fighters at the beginning of fight week, with a guideline that they not come to town more than 8% overweight, should help the process.

Also, fighters, including Bisping and Poirier, said they don’t expect the extra time will result in excessive weight gain, because that can cause sluggishness in the octagon.

“You’re naturally going to put on the weight you’re at at the beginning of the week,” Novitzky said. “Performance levels things out. That’s what they’re most interested in, not putting on extra weight that’ll hinder their performance.”

If the fighter support continues, Foster and Novitzky will urge the Assn. of Boxing Commissions at a meeting in Las Vegas in August to adopt early weigh-ins as standard practice nationally for combat sports.

“We know this is going to work,” said Dr. Diego Allende, a ringside doctor.

Bisping said making weight so early in the day was the start of positive momentum he hopes will continue through Saturday night as he seeks to become the first UFC champion from England.

“I feel good, awesome, and I’m going to be world champion … I’m happy, man, delirious with excitement and can’t wait to get the job done,” he said.