Dana White just killed morning weigh ins: ‘There’s no debate, we’re going back to 4 o’clock’

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White has decided, based on the recent increase in botched main events, that moving the weigh ins back to the afternoon will eliminate -- or at least reduce — the number of fighters who can’t make weight.

Like this up-and-coming grappler.

“Believe me, we’ve studied it,” White told the mixed martial arts (MMA) media during the UFC 225 post-fight press conference (watch it). “The numbers don’t lie. We’ve talked to fighters. A ton of fighters want to go back to 4 o’clock.”

The idea behind morning weigh ins was that it allowed fighters more time to rehydrate prior to stepping into the Octagon, which not only makes for a healthier athlete, but promotes better performances on fight night.

But according to White, that is secondary to a good night’s sleep.

“I know a lot of fighters and most of them are not morning people,” he said. “They sleep all day and are usually up late at night. And this whole morning thing, they gotta cut weight that night. God knows how late they gotta stay up cutting weight and then they gotta go to bed and they can’t sleep much. It just isn’t working.”

The latest fighter to miss weight is top middleweight contender Yoel Romero, who blew up the scale at UFC 221 back in February, then again at UFC 225 last weekend in Chicago. Both times, “Soldier of God” sabotaged his chance to compete for a division title.

As expected, most fighters object to the change in weigh-in times. That includes but is not limited to Eddie Alvarez, Sergio Pettis, and Claudia Gadelha, among other fighters, as well as industry officials like referee “Big” John McCarthy.

“It’s a huge mistake,” McCarthy said. “Why is it you would change things for the small minority of fighters not doing things right, pushing the envelope of what their bodies can lose and penalizing all of the fighters who do it correctly?”

Only White can answer that.