UFC welterweight contender Josh Burkman (8-3) is fresh off a victory over Chad Reiner (13-2) at UFC Fight Night 8 on January 25.
Prior to the bout, he sent around this MySpace bulletin:
And the cut begins!
Couple weeks ago I was 190, Sunday I was 183, today I woke up 179 … Gotta drop 9lbs tomorrow by weigh-ins … 170, Ill put up some pics of my skinny ass after weigh-ins tomorrow…
At the time, cutting 20 pounds seemed like a lot but not outside the realm of possibility — fighters and wrestlers do it all the time. Fellow welterweight Joe Riggs usually — emphasis on the word usually — cuts between 25-30 pounds prior to his fights.
Riggs, however, is a rare case. He used to weigh somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 pounds and is two inches taller than “The People’s Warrior.” He’s just naturally a bigger dude.
At any rate, Burkman sent around another MySpace bulletin today:
I’m gettin alot of questions on cuttin weight… Go to my website and click on Make Weight Now! It’ll kinda explain my diet and how I went from 210 to getting down close enough to cut to 170…
Um, 40 pounds? Burkman?
I call bullshit.
He probably gets some kind of commission from Isagenix.
Nice try.
And, what a horrible, horrible attempt to play off of the classic film “The Warriors” on his MySpace music intro.
I hate that nickname even more now.
January 31st, 2007
10 Comments »
I have no problem believing Josh Burkman cut that much weight. His ego alone weighs 20 pounds.
it doesnt say anywhere in there that he cut 40lbs
if you read it properly it says how he went from 210 which is normal he was not training for awhile due to injury so he prolly put on extra weight to getting down close enough to cut to 170lbs
i think you made everyone think hes a liar kinda cut him up in the post
you should be providing unbiased news if you want to be credible
“It’ll kinda explain my diet and how I went from 210 to getting down close enough to cut to 170…” Mr. Jordan - what part of this statement do you not understand?!?!? It’s plain as day when he says he was on a diet that brought him from 210 down to 170. Of course, the final 20 lbs. were probably cut in a different manner than just dieting, as is for all fighters. But, either way he is claiming you too can lose lots of weight by “going to his site and clicking on Make Weight Now”. If he had that much credible insight on weight loss, he would be in a whole other industry than fighting. I, too, call bullshit! Give me a break Jordan and go cry in someone else’s corn flakes please.
He said he weighed 210 pounds and cut down to 170 — it’s as clear as day. He never mentioned anything about the layoff. Heck, he couldve weighed 210 in middle school — but he doesn’t say that. He is the one who makes it sound like he cut 40 pounds for the Reiner fight, which is the reason I think it is increduluous, and yes, not truthful.
You guys needs to learn how to read English, seriously. Nowhere does it say he cut 40 pounds for his fight. Let’s read his quote again:
“It’ll kinda explain my diet and how I went from 210 to getting down CLOSE ENOUGH TO CUT TO 170…” (added emphasis_
This statement clearly imlies that his natural walk-around weight is 210, but he uses his diet to get to a weight which is “close enough to cut to 170″. This weight “close enough to cut to 170 is clearly the 190 from the other post, not 210 which is his starting point for his diet.
Talk about making a issue of…nothing.
Maybe there’s a semantics issue here, but here’s my take on this issue:
Dieting = sustainable weight loss
Cutting weight = losing water weight temporarily
Fighters diet, starting from a few weeks before the fight, to get their weights down to a healthy, sustainable level (if they choose to do so; many fighters choose to go back up to their natural weight after a fight). In this case for Burkman, it is dieting from 210 down to 190. He might even look at it not as 190 but down to 179, which is where it seems he started his water weight cut.
Is it bullshit? Who knows? I’m not a fan of his, but I think you guys are making an issue out of absolutely nothing.
Another example, Rich Franklin naturally weighs 215. His first cut to 185 didn’t go so well (against Jorge Rivera) so he now diets down to 200 before he really starts cutting water. In your mind, does he do a 30 lbs cut or a 15 lb cut? I see this as a 15 lb cut.
I understand the difference, but he says the word “cut” twice. I agree, different ways to look at it, but Burkman walking around at 210? I don’t know man, he’s not that big.
I went to Juco with him and he walked around at 225 while playing running back and third base…
and he fought at over 200 in his early amateur fights…