Cody McKenzie, Witz End Communications
Tomorrow night’s BattleGrounds MMA show has been hotly anticipated by many hardcore fight fans, as it sees the return of the one night, eight man tournament format. Not only that, but the show features the MMA commentary debut of WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross and Chael Sonnen.
However, UFC veteran Cody McKenzie put the tournament in the headlines a day early – for less than ideal reasons.
McKenzie was only the fighter out of the eight competitors in the tournament to miss weight, coming in 1.4 pounds over the 171 welterweight limit. Instead of the sauna, treadmill or salt bath, McKenzie decided to use a method that many have never heard of before – taking a pint of blood out of his body.
First reported by Shaun Al-Shatti of MMAFighting.com on Twitter, it is unclear whether or not the commission in Oklahoma will have anything to say about this unusual weight cutting technique.
Alongside the weigh-ins, BattleGrounds conducted the draw for the first round of the tournament. The matches, which are all three five-minute rounds, are as follows:
Cody McKenzie (15-4) vs Brock Larson (37-8)
Joe Ray (11-3) vs Luigi Fiorvanti (24-11)
Jesse Taylor (27-10) vs Trey Houston (10-2)
Roan Carneiro (17-9) vs Randall Wallace (9-2)
The event tomorrow night is on PPV and iPPV through Go Fight Live.
