Yana Kunitskaya defeated Raquel Pa’aluhi in the main event of Invicta Fighting Championships 25 to become the Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion.
The contest was contested at 135 pounds and both fighter did make weight for the encounter, but Kunitskaya weighed more than 10% of her weigh-in weight on fight day.
That additional amount of weight on fight day has lead the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) to recommend that the new champion compete at featherweight in her next bout.
Earlier this year, the CSAC released a new 10 point weight cutting plan and one of those points state that if a fighter weighs in on fight day and is more than 10% over their initial weigh-in weight, then the CSAC would recommend that they fight in the next highest weight class for their next bout.
Kunitskaya weighed in at 134.5 pounds during the official weigh-ins the day before the event, but then weighed in at 154.5 pounds at fight time.
Despite the recommendation, the new champion can fight in the state of California again at bantamweight with a doctors clearance and no other athletic commission has to honor the recommendation from the CSAC.
Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp, in a statement to MMA Fighting, recognizes that this situation is a big deal.
“The big deal for me is, I definitely don’t like to see that, because it doesn’t seem quite healthy,” Knapp said. “So I understand where they’re coming from and I support Andy and CSAC for their efforts. I think what he’s trying to do is for the safety of the athletes.”
It is unknown at this time if Kunitskaya will listen to the recommended advice or if she will return to the bantamweight division for her next fight.
