The most highly anticipated lightweight fight of the year was scraped just hours before the bout when Khabib Nurmagomedov was deemed unfit to compete due to complications from his weight cut. When news first broke of Khabib’s hospitalization it quickly went viral and set the internet on fire. MMA fans could not believe that this was really happening. We were all so close to witnessing one of the best lightweight fights of all time. Everyone was not surprised though, believe it or not, a few months ago, when this fight was first being put together I said it would never happen. I was making an appearance as the MMA analyst on ‘The Final Third’ podcast when I was asked what I thought of this fight; I very clearly stated that I had a feeling this fight would never actually come to fruition. This is one of those times I wish I was wrong. I would be lying if I told you I had any factual reason for thinking that, it was just a gut feeling. Now I have a different feeling in my gut, only this time I’m sick to my stomach. When will the unifying body of MMA realize that more weight classes are desperately needed? In some instances, these athletes are causing irreparable damage to their bodies just so they can compete at a more ideal weight. But is nearly killing yourself more ideal? This will not be the last fight cancelled due to a weight cutting issue, and the UFC has implemented some changes to address this, most notably, banning IV rehydration and the early weigh ins. But that is just a start, the UFC needs to add more weight classes, possibly one every 10lbs, i.e. 155lb, 165lb, 175lb, etc. You can bet your bottom dollar if the UFC went in this direction, every other MMA promotion would follow suit. Not only would fewer fights get scrapped due to weight cutting issues if this was the case, it would be much safer, and I wholeheartedly believe we would see these athletes competing at an even higher and more efficient level due to better conditioning.-Mike Straus