UFC 199: James Vick 'It's like they're doing everything they can to avoid making new weight classes'

The UFC's controversial new weight cutting regulations are just a month away from being rolled out officially at UFC 200, and there are growing concerns among fighters, fans and media pundits that while they aim to solve the problems of extreme weight cuts, it might just be opening up a whole new can of issues. The new guidelines, as reported by the Las Vegas Review Journal, state the following:

"There is also a stipulation that all fighters, beginning the week of UFC 200, must be within 8 percent of their target weight when they check in for fight week, which generally occurs on a Tuesday before a Saturday fight.

A fighter who doesn't fall within that range is subject to daily monitoring of weight and vitals throughout the week and will be required to attend weight management counseling before his or her next fight."

One of the most obvious problems with these proposed measures is that we'll likely end up seeing fighters cut weight twice in one week. With dehydration such a dangerous risk, some alterations may be needed to implement any new guidelines effectively.

In a recent interview with the Three Amigos Podcast, lightweight standout James Vick expressed his concerns on how these new measures could affect him, especially since he's pretty much the biggest lightweight in the division at 6'3". Here's what he had to say on the matter:

"I'm not a fan of any of this weight cutting stuff that they're doing. It's like they're doing everything they can to avoid making new weight classes. All they need to do is make new weight classes and then only allow people to weigh in like 10 lbs over on fight night, that would probably be better. It's the best solution there is, and every fighter agrees that they just need to make more weight classes.

If you're not willing to cut 20 or 30 pounds, someone else is, and they're gonna have the advantage. People like to say, ‘Oh, they shouldn't be cutting that much weight," which is basically like saying they shouldn't be allowed to spar that much or run that many miles, because they're gonna have an advantage because they're in better shape. If you're willing to do it and somebody else isn't, you're gonna have the advantage.

That being said, you still have to find a line between safety and risk, but I still don't agree with what they're doing. They're not making anything any easier for us. I'm not worried about coming in over that 8% mark, because I'm pretty sure I won't be the only lightweight coming in over 167 or whatever on that Tuesday of fight week. I'd bet that 70% of the roster, in my weight class or any weight class, is gonna be over that. They'll end up having to cancel fights or figure something else out. I don't think this is necessarily gonna be that great, honestly."

There were several other topics discussed during this excellent interview that included:

• Why he was ready to get right back into another fight less than 6 weeks after his last one
• His ideal fighting schedule
• Where he feels Dariush is strongest
• His fiery take on the upcoming weight-cutting regs
• How he sees Poirier/Green fight going
• His take on Dan Henderson's career
• His breakdown and prediction for his own fight

You can check out the entire interview here at the 41:40 mark of the audio, or via the embedded player below. Remember, if you're looking for us on SoundCloud or iTunes, we're under the MMA Nation name. Follow our Twitter accounts: Stephie Haynes, Three Amigos Podcast, Geroge Lockhart, Iain Kidd and Mookie Alexander or our Facebook fan page, Three Amigos Pod.