Why is weight the one factor that decides who fights who in combat sports?

Q&A with the coach.
Why is weight the deciding factor in determining which fighter can fight which other fighter in combat sports competitions?
Well, what else would we base that decision on?

[@mieralunarlunishion]

'Life's a fight, my friend.' 'Fighting is not egalitarian, it's probably the least egalitarian thing you can do.' 'The guy who has more, wins.' Now there's a perspective. :)

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

I mean look at Andrew Tate a 3x kick boxing champion with the morality of a pinhead with the attetude of a 12 year old.

[@Fidtz]

If you had divisons that measured weight, height and arm span all at the same time, the fights would be more even but there would be thousands of divisions and one fight a year in each! World champion in the 165/5'10"/5'8" class, yay!

[@thishandleistaken1011]

and we also wouldn't see interesting physical matchups like dc vs stipe. Also, you forgot leg reach!

[@msihcs8171]

If you included arm span Jon Jones would never get a fight at a 7' 1" wingspan he can hit most fighters while they still have at least a step (or two) to get in their range

[@Eametsa]

Who asked this never sparred with big dudes..

[@knmfujiwara]

Yeah but it's not an automatic win.

[@Mishkola]

I'm a big dude, and have wrestled other big dudes, having outmatched opponents that are much stronger (guys that only have their physicality, and no skills). The hardest match I ever had was against a 300lb fat dude; the dude was immovable. Weight alone is an advantage, even if that is dead weight and not muscle. He would have been more formidable if he had 300lb of pure muscle, like some of the guys in Strong Man competitions, but his weight still helped him.

[@heretopissyouoff8439]

@@knmfujiwara no but it's still a 90% chance they'll win, life isn't a movie

[@kristianjensen5877]

The fight doesn't start in the ring - the fight starts the moment that you decide to fight. Everything you do up until you enter the ring is part of the fight as preparation is the key to success.

[@harrisfrankou2368]

True

[@jestersage8700]

It's one of the reasons I like trash talking. If you can mess with your opponent and his head then you can cause a bombastic result like Aldo vs McGregor. Perfect example of fighting before fighting

[@29Davies]

The short answer to this question is "SQUISSHHH"

[@aaronweiss3294]

I like the idea of a One Champion under Heaven division- no requirements.

[@-eea32]

So many deaths lol

[@iliveinsideyourhouse3943]

Miyamoto musashi

[@Saskaruto16]

The problem is that would basically just be the heavyweights and a few others competing. I doubt even someone at a welterweight could compete unless they were for some reason so much more skilled than basically everyone there. So really it would just be another battle between the top 3 or so weight classes, which already exists as you can move up or down a weight class in many cases to compete and a lot of them do.

[@papita69xxx]

@@Saskaruto16 but freak show fights. Besides i don't like how heavyweight still has an upper weight limit so that could allow superheavyweights to fight

[@dacenmarus1618]

UFC 1?

[@rhinobridge]

To me it doesn't make sense what they do in the UFC regarding weight. They weigh the fighters some time before the fight and then the fighters recover all their weight to the day of the fight. You lose all the weight equivalence this way.

[@HamsterPants522]

That is actually kind of absurd, yeah.

[@sheadoherty7434]

Weigh ins should be the same night at pro fights.

[@Mishkola]

@@sheadoherty7434 Indeed. It would also discourage some of the insane weight cuts that are done, since nobody would want to fight utterly drained and unable to stand.

[@sheadoherty7434]

@@Mishkola yeah man, those have cost lives

[@superdoonz1]

KZbin's algorithm is still far from perfect if it doesn't recommend the video of Conor McGregor sparring with Haffthor 'The Mountain' in the 'up next' section after this video.

[@KentPetersonmoney]

Strength a lot harder to tell then weight. Do agree two people the same size aren't always the same strength.

[@RobinMcBeth]

Last Thursday, I sparred in a boxing class. The bloke was a head taller and had fifty pounds on me. There was no comparison in strength and punching power.

[@thishandleistaken1011]

Daniel Cormier is (relatively) very short and chubby for his weight class. Still a beast.

[@FearsomeSalvation]

Not relatively he’s pretty fat the problem is that as “average people” become fatter and fatter it changes our perspective of what fat is scientifically 3-6% body fat is beyond shredded 6-9% is shredded 9-15% is lean 15-20% is chubby 20-25% is fat 25-35% is obese and anything over 35% is morbidly obese I’m willing to bet Cormier is at least 30% Cormier is a beer and one of the greatest of the last 10 years but dude is fat

[@ArsenicApplejuice]

Did my first ever judo class today. One of my training partners was 120kg. Certainly made things harder.

[@Mishkola]

I'm guessing you aren't big?

[@ArsenicApplejuice]

Mishkola he had 30 kgs on me. I’m not small. But I’m not very big

[@martinmunnelly5475]

I've had the misfortune of fighting a big strong fat man I was way fitter faster and everything was going great until he punched me clean .oh my god the pure raw power was unreal blew my socks off .I learnt my lesson.BIG is BIG no matter what it looks like 🤷‍♂️

[@hasooneh998]

@@martinmunnelly5475 😂😭😭

[@TheClinchMagazine]

Another reason why there are no strength classes as opposed to weightclasses is that, strength is that skill. Strength is what you are aiming for and represents your training and that represents the competition. If they matched two 500 lb deadlifter (honest assessment), then what is the point of fight ? Then it will boil down to things that can't be trained like chin and arm or leg reach. Also, in physics mass is the primary criteria that determines the force which is also in a way unchangeable unless you add or remove stuff from it.

[@HaiderAli-tt4hh]

Coach, I truly need your help/advice, and I hope this can benefit others as well. CONEXT: As a 19 yo, I have done one month of intense boxing (not much rest and continuously day in day out boxing). During that month, I got a concussion and checked with my doctor. I recovered in 2 weeks and after two weeks, I took more blows to the head and found myself waking up with tremors the next day (lasting only 1 day). I took cold showers to recover my nervous system and also rested well. 1 day after, I had another sparring session. I sparred bigger guys (inexperienced like myself) and people my own weight too (both experienced and inexperienced). There were hits I took at the back of the head which were heavy from the bigger guys, but again, that is due to inexperience and lack of control from both our ends. After that, I sparred people my own weight and took decent hits on the forehead only. I find myself being able to easily control punches and pull back to minimize the force on my punch to their head. I find it that my partner does not have that control and sometimes I get frustrated because it leaves effects on my brain and I do not want to do the same for them. The next day I felt neck stiffness, which I expected and don't find it problematic. What is problematic is that I find myself not to be feeling like my old self. I genuinely have lingering effects of brain trauma (thank god nothing too serious like my first concussion) and feel my body being less responsive physically (or not immediate you could say). I carry a minor migraine with me for a few days and am concerned about missing out on training because my brain feels like it needs time to rest. I do not know where to draw the line between giving the brain rest and rushing back into training to achieve my dreams. I feel like ego is a problem in my gym and more experienced students just punch others in the face hard, especially rookies, to get satisfaction. Their attitude says it all too, disrespectful during drills, and not to kind. All I do is eat, sleep, and breathe boxing and am always studying the art and especially myself every single class and session on what I could do and what I can improve on. I am making significant progress in boxing and sparring, but I don't want monthly brain injuries to be the cost. It is not too discouraging when I get crushed with experienced egoistic students, its that I do not want to carry brain injuries anymore. Even with all this, I take everything in life as an opportunity for growth, as scary as it may seem. I am now refining my style to be very defensive and complimentary to my body and feel more optimistic about being in the ring. However, the main questions are - Should I feel guilty for resting my brain after trauma and feel like missing out on training? - I have shame in telling my coach again I am having issues with my head the second time, what should I do? -Is there shame in telling my coach I need time off sparring? - How long is too long of a break from training? (I do apologize for the longness for this, but I'm just happy I can still type and function well on that end). Even during resting, I am exercising and moving my body around to heal my brain and senses. I do not want to give up and really am hungry to get a shot at the Olympics. As always, thank you so much for your time and again would like to apologize for making this too long.

[@RamseyDewey]

Listen to your body! You won’t be able to achieve your dreams if you’re too brain damaged to compete. This is one of the big problems with boxing culture- how sparring in the gym is so often indistinguishable from fighting. There’s a lot of important stuff you can and should train that doesn’t involve blunt force trauma to the head. Tell your coach what happened. If he cannot understand he severity of what you went through and the danger of repeated short order concussions, then he’s probably not the guy that’s going to lead you to the Olympics. Take care of yourself, man. One thing I wish I would have done more as a fighter would be to say “NO!” More often. It would have saved me a lot of grief and unnecessary injuries in the long run.

[@HaiderAli-tt4hh]

@@RamseyDewey Coach I can't thank you enough for your time, honestly... it means a lot. Also, thanks for the upload on championship fighting too. God bless.

[@Capt.RedBeard]

@@HaiderAli-tt4hh how are you doing now brother ? everything ok in shaa Allah ?!

[@Jonas-ti1py]

The last 2 or 3 minutes of this video added fuel to the burning fire that makes me break myself down in one way or another every single day for the purposes of future martial arts glory.

[@GSouzaRox]

Why are sumo wrestlers so big and strong? Because they can. That's the logical conclusion of a combat sport without weight classes. That is also what makes it great to watch, small fighters like Enho in David vs Goliath scenarios.

[@josephbedwell3164]

Ramsey, I have a good story of motivation. Not about me but a kid I met in basic training. When this kid got to basic training, he could barely do a pushup or situp. After about 3 weeks, he was only able to do about 5 pushups and 10 situps. But seeing his desire to keep working toward that goal actually inspired me to keep him motivated. Long story short, he didn't leave basic training with me but when my drill sergeant asked for my opinion of the kid, I was honest and asked my drill sergeant to give him another chance because of how hard he worked just to be able to keep up with us. He was one of those people that had to work his butt off to see even the smallest improvement. Whereas, I was the polar opposite. My platoon referred to me as a sleeper. Pretty much implying that I have all the natural ability in the world and the tiniest amount of effort creates a huge improvement. In all fairness, I did the same amount of work as everyone else. The only thing I did differently was I slept whenever I had downtime. I didn't study. I didn't socialize. I didn't eat. I didn't work out. I slept. Before qualifying with my rifle, I would sleep until it was my turn to shoot then go back to sleep as soon as I finished. Every course, I would sleep. It wasn't because I wasn't motivated. It was actually quite the opposite. It just became my way of tuning out the world and focusing on what needed to be done. But that was part of why I improved so much compared to everyone else. I was resting every chance I got and allowing my muscles to heal while everyone else was busy doing whatever and worrying about what was happening around them. The single most valuable thing in the military is sleep. The ability to adapt and rest while being fully aware of your surroundings is incredibly valuable both as a soldier and as a parent. But back to the kid that was working his butt off just to keep up. He ended up getting a second chance. Not because of me. But because of the hard work that he put in. My opinion was just that. An opinion. But I will still hold true to that opinion and say if you see a weakling putting in the effort just to keep up, give them a chance. They may surprise you or even better, they might surprise themselves.

[@clarangelical.618]

God bless you, Sir.

[@JustinColletti]

A question for you about the idea of height classes instead of weight classes, Ramsey: There’s no question that all else being equal, a lean 170lb 6’2 dude has a disadvantage vs a lean 250lb 6’2 dude. That much should be obvious. But what about a lean 250lb 6’2 dude vs a fat chubby 290lb dude? What if the fatter guy is 350lbs? How about 400 or 450? At what point is he potentially worse off for being heavier, especially if it comes from body fat, all else being equal? A related question: What’s an appropriate body fat percentage for a fighter in a world without weight classes, or with minimal weight classes like in early UFC? And, is there an *ideal* body fat percentage? We see lean fighters in combat sports because we have weight classes. But if we had height classes instead, would the chubby guys just dominate, or are there offsetting variables at play, like speed and endurance? (I’m sure the rule set plays a roll here, as some rule sets will reward endurance more than others.) If you took the same guy with the same muscle mass, is he a better fighter at 20% body fat than at 15%? What about at 25% or 30%? How about 49% Where is the line where extra body mass, and especially, body fat, become a liability rather than an asset? This is the question I wish you would have answered here. It’s an even more interesting version of the same general thing. Some degree of non functional mass can be an asset. But there’s got to be a point where the cost of extra useless mass is greater than the benefit. Even in Sumo, where the rule set seems to favor athletes with greater body fat percentages than in other sports, we don’t necessarily see the biggest and highest body fat athletes winning every title. And I’d imagine that there are many rule sets that could offer less advantage to excess body fat than sumo. Would love to hear you expound on this! I know you’d do it well.

[@NoNamesWereAvail]

Thank you very much for your answer Ramsey, it's always helpful and inspiring! For the people in the comments wondering how I could have asked this question (I do understand that it can sound silly), I indeed have not sparred against big guys as I only did a bit of boxing when I was a teenager and then mostly karate shotokan which had no full contact (I guess that if I had been doing contact sports or stuff like wrestling/BJJ, the weight advantage would have been more obvious to me). I'm not very big (my body type looks quite normal and I have a bit of belly fat to lose) but I can't deny that someone my weight that would have 40-50 pounds in muscles instead of fat would probably have the edge over me strength wise. I just saw several MMA matches from small chubby guys getting destroyed by taller lean/muscled guys when I asked this question but I am aware that it would be very complicated otherwise (I was wondering if weight had other advantages that I wasn't aware of).

[@inyalgaico1563]

Reminds me of a scene in cowboy bebop where spike fought another martial artist who was on par with him in skill or better but had much more weight to him as a person spike tried a leg sweep the guy barely budged Big disadvantage from that alone

[@jm_sc]

Every video this guy uploads it's a punch of wisdom. I'm proudly following for several years and now think in becoming a professional fighter (probably MMA). But right know I'm studying another career so I need to choose, so guys would you start with boxing, Muay Thai or kickboxing ?

[@F.A.--]

Very good frikin question.

[@heirapparent5004]

I think the goal is to be able to beat the guy you were a few weeks ago. It's the coolest thing when you start take taking a class and realize how little the old you could do. Near the end "Do what you can, do what you must" is close to that awesome Spartan quote. 😄

[@Fernando-ek8jp]

To all fellow lazy couch potatoes and keyboard warriors: do stuff in your room. Pushups, squats, lunges. If you have the space around the house, pace around for a few minutes a day. The best exercise you can do is the one you're willing and able to do. No need to necessarily follow routines at the start. Start small and get comfortable being active.

[@Berkelium_BK]

What if we had height divisions instead of weight divisions?

[@Toutong_]

@Devdan Louis Spurlock Not really it would just make people aim for the most efficient body weight. Fat people aren't better at fighting. It would remove the ridiculous weights cut through.

[@harrisfrankou2368]

See who is better at classical music.. So they get bonus points and stuff.

[@Berkelium_BK]

@Devdan Louis Spurlock I don't think that's a fair comparison. The Rock was a professional wrestler and football player, while Vaughn has no such background. Put two people of equal height and skill in the ring and they will (at least) approximately be in the same weight class.

[@thishandleistaken1011]

Height divisions are stupid. You really want daniel cormier in the same weight class as sean o malley?

[@Berkelium_BK]

@Devdan Louis Spurlock It's always possible to think of unfair match-ups while following specific criteria. If we have height divisions then you can point to Vince Vaughn and The Rock as an example of an unfair matchup. But the thing is, Vince Vaughn doesn't have any training so why would he be fighting the Rock?

[@Danetto]

very nice setting

[@rafaelandion1904]

Never give up pals, size doesnt matter, wath maters is that you come up to your best shape, know your atributes and weaknesses, know your oponents atributes and weaknesses, and make your game. Never surender pal💪

[@bbobjs]

I think he actually brings up a good point with "Height." In theory two athletes of similar height should have a fair optimal fighting weight range. Height is also a characteristic that can't be easily altered so you'd prevent the issues the constantly arise with weight cuts. Furthermore, considering that weigh-ins generally aren't done immediately before the fight, I think it's a bit preposterous to believe that the primary reason to stratify fighters by weight directly correlates to facilitating fair competition. So I don't think it's reasonable to dismiss using "height class" out of hand. That said, the primary drawback of height class is that fighters would generally be locked into a class for life, which would completely prevent certain fights from even being possible.

[@seethruyou255]

if ur tall then ur lanky and fighting a small tank like tyson and pac.. so its even.

[@KarmasAB123]

I mean, obviously we need to drop weight classes and fight in zero G.

[@GeorgeOu]

There are divisions for weaker, slower, less technical, and less talented people and it's called the amateurs or the small league shows.

[@akamrcam]

This makes me wonder, what do you think about Sumo? We've played some Sumo in our Judo class and it was really fun. And I think it would be fun to compete in Sumo or something with a similar rule set but with weight classes and less traditional clothing, maybe some reinforced boxing shorts with a strap like waist band and rash guards. Can something like Sumo be for the weekend amature or is it too tied to tradition? Is there another grappling art with a similar rule set?

[@HittokiriBatosai]

Yeah, I can't help but feel it should be by reach too, even though I don't see that ever happening. Adesanya vs Gastelum, Gastelum was giving up something like 8 inches of reach.

[@Hatingonyall2023]

There’s always going to be advantages and disadvantages if we were to have classes for every physical advantage there would be way too many weight classes. Sometimes people are gonna fave a physical disadvantage that’s the way ALL sports are 🤷🏿‍♂️

[@mranonymous2729]

Adesanya is just a much more tuned fighter, with the skill set and mind set. A lot of fight is in the head, so mindset matters a lot. What i mean is that in the adesanya vs gastelum fight, you could really see after sometime during the fight that gastelum was desperate and reactive whereas adesanya was technical, clinical and responsive. So yeah, it wasnt simply adesanyas reacht hat helped him, it was his mentality that allowed him to use that reach advantageously. If he didnt know how to use it, tables could be turned

[@BillHallProductions]

Sumo does it with win loss records and no weight class. Also a lot of favoritism and back door deals. But officially it's win loss record.

[@skidrat55]

I have the opposite problem. I got sick recently and lost a bunch of weight. I was already very thin to begin with. I'm 5'7" too but I need to gain like 40 lbs.

[@ehllendil]

you touch me men!, i love this clip!

[@perrenchan6600]

Brings to mind the age old scenario of a David vs Goliath. What work should the david put in? Bulk up as much as he can with muscles tills hes basically just a short goliath? Or keep it lean and mean and try to turn the disadvantage to an advantage? Either way, you've got to put in the work to overcome that gap

[@marcgoulet1967]

thanks

[@xabierpascal7548]

Weight is very important in fighting. I am a karate black belt, but I also spar with mma guys. One day my friend group got together to do some sparring and a mma beginner who only went 3 times to train wanted to spar with me. I am a 57kg guy and he weights 85kg. We are both athletic but he is stronger. During the 3 minutes of sparring I could only go backwards and wait until he opened his guard to strike, because if I tried to fight in place I'd get hit and he is stronger than me. In the end we talked about what we could improve and we're working on it. English is not my first language so sorry if something doesn't make sense.

[@Mishkola]

Your English is better than a lot of native speakers, from what I can see. Did you learn anything from the weight difference? I ask because I like to wrestle, and when I wrestle guys that are bigger or stronger than me it shows me where my technique needs improvement.

[@xabierpascal7548]

@@Mishkola Yeah it was a great learning experience. I don't block well hooks and I have to work in head movement. In the other hand he has to work on footwork because he is really predictable. You say you are a wrestler. Any common mistakes strikers make while trying to wrestle? I am considering doing wrestling with my friends because there is no wrestling classes where I live.

[@Mishkola]

@@xabierpascal7548 I'm sorry, I'm not an experienced enough wrestler to answer your question. I'm in the same situation, where I don't have the classes I want nearby. I just watch and learn what I can, and practice when I have the opportunity.

[@rickyrobles2254]

Add limes length and weight together best way to make even

[@talaverajr391]

It would be so much more interesting if there were no weight classes. We would see crazy shit.

[@enrillejohan5080]

I'm 179cm 90Kg, I feel have to trying more when to get my balance and quickness but for power is good though like effortless, i can just throw any strikes it will follow with good power. Expect to get 85 that will compensate my balance form and quickness but without reducing power

[@BeeBN]

I don't think height classes are a very good idea, because some shorter people could possibly have lanky arms. All and all I think weight classes is a good determining factor of who fights who

[@cerebellicose]

Simple physics...force=MASS times acceleration. There are many more variables in a fight, of course, but that's a big part of it.

[@nuthin2lose688]

But why is Masta Wong the one factor that decides he fights in combat on the streets?

[@Zekersaurusrex]

Force = Mass x Acceleration

[@tiendoan1333]

Kinetic Energy = m(v)^2. Speed is the biggest power contributor

[@Al77343]

Ramsey Daniel Cormier and Stipe miocic are going at it for the third and final time. Who do you think will win (assuming you've seen the first two fights) and are you rooting for either of them?

[@EyesofOd]

As a side note to the person who wrote it in - where are you getting the ideal weight from? Hopefully not a chart or something. Go to an actual doctor who can help you find your ideal weight. I'm not much taller than you about 5 foot 9ish and I'm around 210 lbs. I'm not a monster buy I am more muscular than average and have extremely high bone density. My ideal weight is around 190 -200 with my muscle mass but have about 10 lbs of extra fat (as tested by doctor, body fat, calipers etc). Just saying the weight is only a number; the real important thing is body fat percentage. According to BMI I'm obese or even extreme obese; according to doctor and nutritionist I'm athletic fit.

[@jorel80]

Great video as always! I've gotten interested in MMA as a spectator, watching Bellator MMA mostly and becoming familiar with some of these fighters. We get to hear about a particular fighters amateur/pro record and what styles they may have trained in but we don't often get to hear about their personal journey, the fight before the fight because we dont have time to delve into everyones bio of course. So, its easy to dismiss someone, even a pro just because they lost a fight when in fact if we knew what that fighter went through just to get to that ring we would probably have a much better appreciation of their performance, win or lose. I'm sure people who are deeper into this know more about the fighters' backgrounds but this is just my take at the moment. Thanks for the wisdom.

[@georgeg2369]

@ramsey What do you think of various moves which we don’t see in MMA? Headbuts Throat punches Throat grab Eye gouge Groin hit Biting Would you use all this in self defence on the street?

[@konev13thebeast]

He covered a lot of this. The prominent ones was biting is worthless and headbutts are great if you use your forehead against the softer parts of their face

[@robcharters2645]

That's why I don't consider professional fighting fighting,it's sport,remove the weight classes and you'd see a totally different type of person thriving

[@mmareviewer.2372]

Tell me about it! At 135 lb I am always up against bigger guys that are usually from 150 lb and up. It sucks! = but it does get easier over time, and when you face a guy your size its more easier because of what you been put yourself through when you do it all the time... it even made more move up in weight, strength and so much more. Good vid as usual coach.

[@outcastsauce5390]

If you need to dehydrate and tax your body in order to lose weight for weight in, you should look into going up a weight class. You end up gaining weight right after weight in’s by hydrating and eating. It’d be different if the fight was right after the weight in...

[@shalvenic3948]

I always known size matters but i wanted to know when does it matter or better yet when does it play a significant role in a fight? Because the way i think about it if someone is only 10 pounds heavier than you it shouldn't matter that much, but if a person is 20 or more now there's a problem lol.

[@rowanatkinson198]

Dude needs a podcast

[@RamseyDewey]

Dude has a podcast. Give it a listen.

[@bubblewhip382]

Better question. Is there an ideal weight for heavy weight? A lot of the best heavy weight fighters get no where near the limit in the UFC, and always comment how losing weight would cause them to perform better. What weight is ideal in an absolute heavyweight division?

[@JustinColletti]

I think you missed an opportunity here. Mass, even inefficient mass CAN be an advantage in certain fighting contexts, to a certain degree. An interesting question here is what would happen if we had HEIGHT classes. Would heavier people have an advantage, even if they carried extra fat mass? To what degree? Under what threshold? Within what rulesets? I’d encourage you to revisit the question again from this angle for what could be a very interesting talk.

[@RamseyDewey]

If there were height classes, the tall skinny guys would get squished by the tall big guys.

[@josheternal]

Exactly. I used to see people pick fights with fat dudes all the time, thinking that the fat dudes size didnt matter cuz they didn't have a lot of muscle. Most times, if the fat guy wasn't terrified, he won. Because what these idiots didn't take into account is that size and mass IS strength in a fighting context. It's a fist fight, not an arm wrestling competition. And if a 300 lb fat dude throws a punch at you, thats still 300 lbs of force and mass colliding with your face, which is not gonna feel good when it connects. Nor will it feel any better than a punch from a 300 lb muscular man. Weight/Mass X Velocity is Weight/Mass X Velocity. Plus there is a natural strength that comes with pure size, even without muscles, that translates well into fighting. But people are idiots. When people say things like "size doesn't matter", I suspect they know it's not true. Its themselves they are trying to convince moreso than you when they say that stuff

[@JustinColletti]

@@RamseyDeweyI’m sure that would be true if you were looking at a lean 170 6’2 dude vs a lean 250 6’2 dude But what about a lean 250lb 6’2 dude vs a fat chubby 290lb dude? What if he’s 350? 400? At what point is he worse off for being heavier, all else being equal, including height? A related question: What’s an appropriate body fat percentage for a fighter? Is their an ideal body fat percentage? If you took the same guy with the same muscle mass, is he a better fighter at 20% body fat than at 15%? What about at 25% or 30%? How about 49% Where is the line where extra body mass, and especially, body fat, become a liability rather than an asset? This is the question I wish you would have answered here. It’s a more interesting version of the same general thing. Sone degree of non functional mass can be an asset. But there’s got to be a point where the cost of extra useless mass is greater than the benefit.

[@RichardsWorld]

Many people including myself didn’t take chubby Daniel Cormier very serious, but he has some serious achievements in the UFC.

[@cuzz63]

If you think deeply we do more than that, we dont allow Amateurs to fight Pros, we dont put fighters who are 10-0 fight those making their debut. Matchmakers usually try to set up good fights, either by knowing the fighters or using rankings in the weight class.

[@RamseyDewey]

There are so many exceptions to that!

[@cuzz63]

@@RamseyDewey sadly yes. just as exceptions made to weight. I always discouraged my fighters from fighting when their opponent didnt make weight. Saw too many fights where the fighter who didnt make weight won.

[@fireeaglefitnessmartialart935]

How would it be different if fight classes were by height? How would that change the game? What if height and weight as double classes or height exclusively?

[@RamseyDewey]

Then the big tall guys would kill the tall skinny guys.

[@FolkeBernadotte2]

What about height classes?! Isn’t that an incentive to get fighters to compete for more strength as well as skills?!

[@tcity1278]

Muscle mass. Question answered.

[@GuitarsRockForever]

Why that was even a question? Ever try fighting a much bigger person, you see it straight away. Still remember the first demonstration match we witnessed before our first sanda class back to many years ago. The coach was meant to show how good his students were, and called one of his best (a pro, who was some sort of champ) to have a match with one amateur student (our understanding, been practicing for a few years). The pro was like 60kg, and the amateur was like 80ish kg. the pro was absolutely dominating, but he couldn't do sh#t to hurt the amateur.

[@josheternal]

A bear will win a fight with a wolf almost every time. Despite the fact that the wolf is a far more skilled fighter. Size freaking matters

[@willtherealrustyschacklefo3812]

I mean because it's basically the only metric there is to separate them by unless they have belts or we go by age. Tho truly they are all kinda pointless, I understand the reasoning behind it as far as competition goes. But as far as the real world and fights go there are no classes divisions etc

[@Gloin79]

Isn't the biggest factor that ensures a 2 sided fight the matchmakers? or how does that work?

[@Disgruntledgamer]

What about height. You could make divisions based on height might be interesting.

[@sagetmaster4]

This video is so much more powerful when you know how skinny Ramsey used to be

[@harrisfrankou2368]

Can you put Godzilla in... even a Toe Lock? I mean Godzilla's toe is like 100" minimum circumference.

[@4wrds993]

But humans have far less differentiation in size.

[@harrisfrankou2368]

@@4wrds993 it's metaphor. To rid the nonsense arguments.

[@poireauetsespnjs5668]

Just one kick comment everybody has the same mass to weight ratio, it's 9,81N/Kg it only change if you re in space or another planet. What you probably refered to was lean mass too total mass ratio.

[@Dianaranda123]

Personnally i think if you just take into account Length and Weight, alot of things would be solved.

[@JohnDoe-iu3mj]

Someone that’s knows how to use their body weight in a fight can be terrifying

[@soonahero]

“Fighting is not egalitarian” My dude, women’s divisions exist.

[@-eea32]

WOOOOOOOO

[@tiagovazkez9356]

People forget fat also gives you strength, power, standing stability and leverage. I do think weight classes create eating disorders that ruin teenagers hormones potentially for life. If weight classes are really meant to be height classes then just make height classes. I'd like to see 2 inch difference classes with no minimum height requrement. Very easy to measure and once a fighter is well measured no need to repeat the ritual. With better PED control It would put an end to the health devastation weight cut practice and will instead incentivise fighters to be the largest heaviest strongest, most athletic version they can genetically be instead of looking at less then impressive bodies trying to stay the smallest possible to fit into their division like the diaz brothers. That would mean fights of guys with similar fight ranges and extremely strong, athletic and big phisics colliding without outlyers like jone jones that holds his opponents face and just cant be punched anymore but when facing people of his height and range he just doesnt shine anymore. It would also make the fighters more self defense ready. It is concerning that bj pen got knocked out by one punch in a bar fight and a ufc light heavyweight title contender couldnt take out a small home invader. They would be more real life ready

[@Migolcow]

Just to play devil's advocate, isn't there a lot of "cheating" in boxing/mma with weight as it is? As in losing a lot of weight (mostly water) to make the weight cut, then gaining back after the weigh in? In a generally very bad move for the long term health of the fighter? Or is that more myth than fact?

[@papita69xxx]

That could've been true at the time IVs were allowed. Nowadays though i don't think it's as easy as you make it sound like you recover all the weight all the water and electrolytes between weight in and fight night? No man the human body is not a sponge. It's gonna take some time for your body to reach homeostasis. That's why sometimes you see fighters that are dead man walking during the weight ins and when they fight they are a shadow of themselfs. And even if there was a magical cheat that allowed you to recover after a gruelling weight cut to perfect fighting form it would get banned instantly

[@Pawn007can]

Mass to Weight ratio is Gravity

[@charlesbrockman3299]

I still think, reach and knowledge, should determine opponents. Equalish reach, +- 2 inches. Equalish knowledge or skill. That should make a match between willing participants. If a man is willing to give a 20 pound advantage, we should let him. If a man is willing to give a reach advantage, beyond a couple of inches, we should let him. If the knowledge and skill is equalish. Equalish. Obviously, perfectly paired opponents are most likely to stalemate. Its either over coming an adversity, or its about having really superior skill. That happens when its equalish, not perfect. Imagine the support Connor McGregor would get if he beat Mike Tyson in an MMA bout?? Can you imagine? They have similar reach. Tysons lack of MMA is a definitive advantage for McGregor. I'd pay and cheer both sides! Lol

[@mrmoth26]

Is wrestling the best cardio, aerobic and stamina exercise for wrestling? Is it also the best way to build strength for wrestling? Why is lifting/doing strength training outside of wrestling more important than doing "cardio"'exercises like swimming and running according to you? In your video about the cardio myth you said that you don't need stuff like running for fighting and that fighting is good enough cardio for fighting, but why is strength training more important? I've heard that one guy said that his cardio for BJJ is BJJ, and you agreed and said that fighting is the best cardio for fighting, but when a guy said that BJJ is his strength training for BJJ you did not advise it and said that he's on a different level from most people and that one is unlikely to be able to do that. Why is there more athletic crossover from lifting to fighting than from running to fighting? Why would you advise strength training but not what's generally understood to be "cardio" for fighting?

[@RamseyDewey]

Strength is the precedent to all other athletic attributes.

[@benquinney2]

Reach

[@mkg0101]

Scientifically every thing matters in that equation even your mode ??!! even at the jungle the lion is the king he is not the fastest or biggest or even the tallest but has all of those combined with some out sport skills like courage and group work so if u lost a fight that's because u lack a fitness level or technical disorder but still theres' a difference between ring fight and street fight but the most common thing between them is no body is bigger than ko we see small guys kick big mans' ass in short( u r the best enemy of your self)

[@jayhay8]

Why don’t they do height classes instead? You can gain/lose weight but you can’t change your height really

[@davecharette2812]

ramsey reminds me of one punch man everytime i see him

Because physics...

[@grantgibson480]

How about age groups with school sports? Bunch of islanders, one generation removed from tribal, can be practically men at 12 vs caucasian boys...

[@aragus76]

Size matter that the reason royce Gracie never had a fight in pride fc against a top heavyweight . Even in jiu jitsu the absolute champion is not a guy that weights 125

[@NESRockman1987]

briefly: F=m×a

[@charrleschervanik3632]

Like I was physically bullied in school. For reference, I've never broken 130 pounds, and I am about 5'6. So I was an "easy" target. To get body checked into lockers, or to have a group of guys surround me mock and belittle me, to the point where all I could do is sit there and take the punishment. I wish some days my bullies were just online. And before anyone here starts, I am 19, I grew up with the technology that created such bullies. But instead I was the little guy in the locker room full of giant's. I'm not saying this to be like "our pain is different" or whatever, I'm saying this so you all know the alternative. Would you rather a troll say mean things over a media platform, or them beat you with several of their friends, and treat you like you are worthless, until you believe it.

[@dannycalugar]

letting jokes aside.. if a taller stronger guy could defeat Bruce lee?..yes,..problem is Bruce is training all day long lol..for those situations...so is about the level you train I guess

[@RamseyDewey]

Training all day long will result in diminishing returns. Train smarter, not just harder.

[@dannycalugar]

@Adam Snyder my theory is cortizon abuse...he took it for his back pain. after enter the dragon he stopped it,so he looked so skinny in game of death?..my theory,

[@jacobfavret1729]

F=MA

[@chrisinvictus1230]

Cuz as a non boxer i can knock out 80kg boxers evry time lol

[@Gloin79]

2:52 yeah but who wants to compete in the weakling division :p

[@MarkLucas]

Never competed against sand baggers in BJJ white belt division ? 🤣

[@redcastlejacobite2780]

First

[@lonestoner8297]

So since the question was asked... About fat guys. Would you look at a Strong Man and call him fat? I hope you know the type of guys I mean when I say Strong Man. Now what if one of those tank men was trained in fighting... What kind of weight class would they be? Besides heavyweight... What chances would anyone not their class have? I imagine grappling against one would be hard. Going toe to toe in a strike fest would probably be unwise... Or am I giving them too much credit?

[@willspeakman2461]

Just do fights in space, problem solved.

[@madmathematician4458]

I disagree with a lot this guy is saying. Intelligence is a LARGE FACTOR in winning a fight an Ali proved with over and over again!!!!!

[@garynaccarto8636]

Fat guy are at a disadvantage in a fight however at the same time if your'e fat than thats your problem.

[@Mishkola]

Fat guys when compared to people of similar weight that aren't fat, yes.

[@yessir640]

Bas Rutten Knocked out a Guy 45lbs heavier then him with a palm strike weight helps a LOT but Weight doesn't make you invincible.

[@willtherealrustyschacklefo3812]

I would fight a 300 pound untrained strong man before I fought a 165 pound actual fighter. (I actually have many times) and just to be honest more often than not the big guy will put up alot less of a fight than a smaller guy who actually has fighting ability