Prominent Asian mixed martial arts promoter ONE Championship announced on Thursday that 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 Jianbing, 21, who was due to take part in a bout in Manila, collapsed on Dec. 10 and was taken to a hospital, where he died a day later.
Philippine authorities this week said a heart attack caused his death.
ONE Championship’s statement about the ban and its new weight-tracking program did not mention Yang.
“By banning weight-cutting by dehydration, we are leading the way globally for enhanced safety standards for professional MMA athletes,” ONE Championship chief executive Victor Cui said in a statement.
ONE Championship said it would regularly monitor its fighters’ weight as a way of reducing the widespread practice of fighters inching their way into categories by dehydrating themselves.
Fighters are to be weighed three hours before an event and can be disqualified if they do not fit within their weight class.
That is to replace the practice used in many 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 organizations, Bellator and UFC, to follow in our footsteps to protect athletes and to eliminate the process of weight-cutting by dehydration,” Cui said.
Based in Singapore, ONE Championship maintains a stable of fighters signed to exclusive contracts for fights broadcast on cable television.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was