MANILA, Philippines – After being rocked by the death of one of its fighters, ONE Championship has instituted a new weigh-in program that bans weight reducing by dehydration to prevent another incident from occurring in the future.
The new program is focused on athletes’ safety by introducing “walking-weight” competition via multiple weigh-ins and tests before and during fight week, including three hours before an event begins.
Athletes will now compete at their “walking-weight” which will be determined by a system that will track his or her weight on a regular basis throughout the period that the athlete is contracted to ONE.
“We believe that through the implementation of this new weigh-in program, our fighters will enjoy a safer and healthier life inside and outside of the cage,” said ONE CEO Victor Cui in a statement.
ONE Championship was marred by the death of Chinese fighter Yang Jiang Bing early this month due to complications allegedly caused by his attempt to make the weight cut hours before his scheduled fight.
Yang, 21, was supposed to face Filipino Geje Eustaquio in ONE “Spirit of Champions” fight card but was rushed to the San Juan De Dios Hospital in Pasay City after he collapsed before the official weigh-in.