Weight loss in mixed martial arts athletes

The mixed martial arts (MMA) is among the sports with higher spectators increase in the world. This fact can be observed in growth of exposure on media and increased num ber of practitioners and spectators [1]. This sport is composed by combination of boxing, Muay Thai, karate, taekwondo, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo and other disciplines specific techniques. Nowadays, the MMA is practiced in various countries being the sixth more popular sport in United States of America [2]. Despite the notoriety achieved, few studies aimed to investigate the different fields of this sport. Among the studies that have been conducted involving MMA, most focused on the injuries happened during combat [2-5]. In many sports, especially in combat sports, the athletes are divided according to body mass. This strategy is adopted to leave the disputes more balanced. However, it is commonly observed that athletes conduct some arrangements to reduce large amounts of body mass to move to lighter categories, in an attempt to compete against smaller and weaker opponents [6]. In fact, there are data indicating that boxers [7,8], judokas [9,10], wrestlers [11], Brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes [9-12], taekwondo athletes [13,14] and karate athletes [9] adopt methods to reduce the body mass prior to a competition, but no study has been conducted involving the MMA. This practice can be harmful, because it negatively alters the humor profile, sports performance and health, especially when the magnitude of reduced mass is high [6,15]. It is not difficult to find reports of combat sports athletes reducing a large percentage of body mass. For example, in university level Olympic wrestling (n = 63), 89% of the athletes reported to be engaged in some procedure to reduce body mass prior