Tristan Connelly: ‘We Need an Almost USADA-Type Program to Monitor Athletes’ Weights’

The most challenging part of fight week is still ahead of Tristan Connelly, who can’t wait to hit the scales on Friday so that the fun part might begin. Connelly (14-7, 1-1 UFC) will compete in the upcoming UFC on ESPN 35 event, where he will lock horns with Darren Elkins in a 145-pound tilt. While talking with Sherdog, “Boondock” confessed that the weigh-ins are the most difficult test before a fight, joining the chorus of fighters’ voices that complained about the stress stemming from weight cutting. When asked about a hypothetical quick fix for the issue, Connelly invoked a sort of USADA program for weight checks. While he understands that it’s not an easy solution and the smaller organizations might not be able to implement it, he expects that it should be effective, at least in the big leagues.

“The only thing you can do is really put a lot more money into it, almost a USADA-type program to monitor athletes’ weights,” he said. “From the moment they sign the contract, they have to be this weight. They have to have people randomly [testing]. They can’t just have phoning scale checks because people will cheat on that. You need to have random show-up weight checks, and you have to fall into a percentage. That would be the only way, and it’s a big… That would be a big cost and a lot of work, but it could be done.”

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro
(01:01) The hardest part of fighting: weight cutting
(02:53) How he might fix the weight cutting issues
(04:27) Traveling between Las Vegas and Vancouver for his training camp
(05:22) His sparring partners
(06:41) Commenting on Elkins’ fighting style
(08:26) Recovering from his second neck injury
(11:27) The origin of his nickname, “Boondock,” and his walkout song
(12:54) His little baby having a fever for Easter
(14:20) Picking Rob Font vs. Marlon Vera
(14:43) His prediction for his fight
(15:09) Outro

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and he now covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.