Saad Awad: It’s ‘Super Disrespectful’ when Fighters Miss Weight

Saad Awad (22-9) will face Ryan Couture (11-5) at Bellator 201 on June 29 at Temecula, California’s Pechanga Resort & Casino in the co-main event at a catchweight of 160 pounds. Awad, a longtime competitor with Bellator MMA, has competed at lightweight as well as welterweight. As such, he has a wealth of experience at weight cutting as well as some strong opinions on the subject.

In a recent interview with “The Coast-2-Coast Combat Hour,” Awad was asked about weight cutting, as well as related issues such as changing weigh-in times and the increasing number of fighters who fail to make their contracted weights. He did not hold back his feelings about the situation, pointing out the professional discourtesy as well as the competitive advantage of fighters who come in heavy.

“It’s super disrespectful when guys miss weight,” said Awad. “Part of this sport is to come and weigh in at a certain weight and when you come in a couple of pounds heavy is a huge disrespect. The way I look at it is, those last couple of pounds are the ones that really deplete you. You know your opponent is doing it and you come in and you win the fight because you had that extra energy. I’m like, ‘What if you did cut those extra pounds?’ Then it’ll be an even fight.”

Awad also believes the penalty for missing weight should be more severe and should include a lengthy suspension on top of the fines that include percentages of an opponent’s purse. Awad is certainly not alone in his view of weight cutting, as fighters who miss weight and win have been a major recurring storyline within the sport this year, coming under fire after those victories.

Awad is currently on a three-fight win streak and feels that extending that to four with a win over Couture will earn him a chance to avenge his loss against Brennan Ward from Bellator 163, which will in turn put him in the same conversation with Michael Chandler and Brent Primus atop the Bellator lightweight division.

Edward Carbajal serves as the lead MMA analyst for Frontproof Media and holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a brown belt in Ishin Ryu Karate. He has covered combat sports since 2014 and has been a fan of MMA since UFC 1. You can follow him on Twitter @Carbazel or at his website TheBlogBoardJungle.com.