How much weight UFC fighters gain after the weigh-in

Fighters weigh in the day before the fight and walk out much heavier. How much heavier used to be a matter of anecdote. The California commission weighs fighters again on the day of the event and publishes the figures, and nine complete UFC cards since 2018 give 222 official numbers.

Where the numbers come from

The California State Athletic Commission weighs fighters again on the day of the event and publishes the figures. Nine UFC cards are in the record, each complete: UFC 227 (August 2018, 24 fighters), UFC 232 (December 2018, 26), UFC 241 (August 2019, 24), UFC 270 (January 2022, 22), UFC San Diego (August 2022, 26), UFC 298 (February 2024, 24), UFC 311 (January 2025, 26), UFC Sacramento (August 2026, 26) and UFC 331 (September 2026, 24). They are every complete published card we have found. Two are left out because the record takes complete cards only: the Sacramento card of July 2019, published only as an image, and UFC Fight Night Fresno of December 2017, the first card with fight-night checks, for which only the four fighters over 10 percent were named.

The regain is the fight-night weight minus the official weigh-in weight, and the percentage is that regain divided by the weigh-in weight, calculated the same way for every card. Reports from 2018 printed a different percentage, the fight-night weight over the division limit, so their figures read lower than the ones here. For UFC San Diego the commission's list printed rounded weigh-in figures for several fighters, so the official weigh-in results are used. Daniel Cormier was weighed on fight night at UFC 241 clothed, with items in his pockets, and his figure stands as published. A few fighters fought on two of these cards, so the record counts weights, one per appearance. Every row, with its source, is in the weight miss registry.

The whole record is also a data file: ufc-fight-night-weights-2018-2026.csv, 222 rows, one per weight, with the card, the date, both weights, the regain in pounds and in percent, and the source for each row. It is free to use, including in articles and research, under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Credit Foka Elite and link to this page.

The numbers

What has changed since 2018

The middle of the field has moved little, about a point either way. The top end has grown in steps: regains of 15 percent or more went from one weight in 25 to one in nine to more than one in five, and regains of 20 lb or more from 12 percent of weights to 18 percent to 36 percent.

Nine cards show a difference and cannot show a cause. The mix differs from card to card, in divisions and in title fights, and the lightest divisions carry most of the large regains. What the record does show is that the extreme end has become ordinary on recent cards.

The lighter the fighter, the bigger the regain

Heavier fighters in this record regained little, and five of them weighed less on fight night than at the weigh-in. What comes back overnight is mostly what the cut took out: water, glycogen and gut content, as set out in rehydration after the weigh-in. Most of the heavier fighters regained little because they had little to put back.

The largest and smallest regains

Largest, in pounds:

• Geoff Neal, UFC 298: 170.5 to 200.8 lb, +30.3 lb (17.8%)
• Paulo Costa, UFC 298: 185.5 to 215.2 lb, +29.7 lb (16.0%)
• Paulo Costa, UFC 241: 186 to 213.8 lb, +27.8 lb (14.9%)
• Reinier de Ridder, UFC 311: 184.5 to 212 lb, +27.5 lb (14.9%)
• Danny Barlow, UFC 298: 171 to 197.8 lb, +26.8 lb (15.7%)
• Renato Moicano, UFC 311: 155 to 181.8 lb, +26.8 lb (17.3%)

Largest as a share of the weigh-in weight: Joanderson Brito, UFC 331: 145.5 to 171.4 lb, +25.9 lb (17.8%), fractionally above Geoff Neal at 17.77 percent. On the same card Joshua Van defended the flyweight title at 145.8 lb on fight night after weighing in at 125: +20.8 lb, 16.6 percent.

Lighter on fight night than at the weigh-in:

• Jailton Almeida, UFC 311: 235 to 232.2 lb, -2.8 lb (-1.2%)
• Serghei Spivac, UFC Sacramento: 257 to 254.6 lb, -2.4 lb (-0.9%)
• Kennedy Nzechukwu, UFC Sacramento: 244 to 241.6 lb, -2.4 lb (-1.0%)
• Junior Tafa, UFC 298: 249 to 247 lb, -2 lb (-0.8%)
• Ciryl Gane, UFC 270: 247 to 245 lb, -2 lb (-0.8%)

The two lines the commission uses

The commission treats 10 percent as the point at which it recommends a move up a division and 15 percent as the point at which it will consider refusing the bout. In this record, 115 of 222 weights crossed the first line and 32 crossed the second, 22 of them on the four cards since 2024.

The UFC itself has no rehydration clause and no cap on what a fighter may regain. In boxing, a contract can set one: the Eubank Jr v Benn clause capped the regain at 10 lb, checked the next morning. The clauses and what they cost are in rehydration clause rules.

The first 35 weights

This page started from 35 weights, in which UFC 298 was nine fighters named in one report, most of them because they had crossed 15 percent. On that set the median regain was 19.4 lb, 12.7 percent; 22 of the 35 crossed 10 percent and 15 crossed 15 percent; fighters at 160 lb or less regained a median of 15.2 percent, and those at 200 lb and above 1.5 percent.

Completing those three cards and adding every other complete published California card we have found brings the record to the 222 weights at the top of this page. Posts and notes written from the first set quote the first figures. Both sets are real; the larger one is the better answer.

What this record cannot tell you

• It is nine cards and one commission. The numbers describe fighters on those cards, not every UFC fighter.
• The comparison over time is three periods of two to four cards each. It shows a difference; it cannot show a cause.
• It says nothing about who won. The studies that looked at regain and results point both ways: a judo study linked regain to success, a multi-day boxing study found no link, and both were observational.

Common questions

How much weight do UFC fighters gain after weigh-ins?

In 222 official fight-night weights from nine UFC cards since 2018, the median regain was 15.5 lb between the weigh-in and the fight, about 10 percent of the weight on the scale. Fighters who weighed in at 160 lb or less regained a median of 12.0 percent.

Has weight regain changed since 2018?

The typical regain has moved little: a median of 10.3 percent in 2018, 9.8 in 2019 to 2022 and 11.1 in 2024 to 2026. The top end has grown in steps: regains of 15 percent or more went from 2 of 50 weights to 8 of 72 to 22 of 100. Nine cards show a difference and cannot show a cause.

What is the most weight a UFC fighter has gained after weighing in?

In pounds, Geoff Neal at UFC 298: 170.5 lb at the weigh-in and 200.8 lb on fight night, a regain of 30.3 lb, or 17.8 percent. As a percentage, Joanderson Brito at UFC 331 edges him: 145.5 lb to 171.4 lb, a regain of 25.9 lb, or 17.80 percent against 17.77.

Is there a limit on how much a UFC fighter can gain after the weigh-in?

The UFC has no rehydration clause. The California commission recommends a move up a division above 10 percent and will consider refusing the bout at 15 percent.

Why do lighter fighters regain more?

In this record the weights at 200 lb and above show a median regain of 6.3 lb, while those at 160 lb or less show 16.0 lb. What comes back overnight is mostly what the cut removed, so a fighter who barely cut has little to regain.

Do fighters who regain more weight win more often?

This record does not answer that, and the studies point both ways: a judo study linked regain to success, a multi-day boxing study found no link, and both were observational.