UFC fighters will do absolutely insane things to make weight. Salt baths, sauna, sweatsuits, rubdown gels—you name it. But Mackenzie Dern? She might have just added a cold one to the list ahead of her co-main event fight against Gillian Robertson at UFC 330. Dern, Edson Barboza, and Neil Magny shared their weight-loss experiences on TikTok for Bleacher Report. And while all three stories seemed interesting, Dern’s was the most surprising for sure.

As per the UFC strawweight champion, her coach, Jason Parillo, once advised her to drink beer the night before weigh-ins because she was dangerously near to missing weight.

“My coach, Parillo, he had me have a beer on the night before because it helps you, it dehydrates you, and you go pee more,” Mackenzie Dern revealed. “I mean, my weight was, like, very close, and he said, ‘Hey, have this beer.’ And so he had me have like a big IPA, and I made weight.”

So, basically, Dern was encouraged to crack open a beer while trying to lose the last few pounds. And, as bizarre as it sounds, there’s some true science behind the madness.

Alcohol can operate as a strong diuretic, which means it causes you to pee more and lose fluid drastically. In a weight cut, a temporary drop in water weight can be enough to push a fighter across the finish line on the scale.

But before you go trying the same, one should know that there’s a pretty nasty catch. UFC fighters are already pushing dehydration to the limit when they cut weight. So when alcohol is thrown into the mix, the situation can become even more dangerous.

It can worsen dehydration, disrupt electrolyte balance, and raise the risk of other serious complications. While a beer may help shift the number on the scale, it is not a harmless little weight-loss technique, even though the UFC has no official rule or explicit ban specifically prohibiting fighters from consuming alcohol during a weight cut.

In other words, while Mackenzie Dern’s story worked for her on that particular occasion, it should not be taken as a credible weight-loss recommendation. However, despite the risks, it is worth noting that the 33-year-old isn’t the only top MMA star who has admitted to taking alcohol while cutting weight.

Ilia Topuria is also one who enjoys some red wine before weigh-ins, which he apparently includes in his weight-management routine. But Mackenzie Dern’s story, on the other hand, sounds much more like a last-minute solution when she’s already right on the edge.

Weight cutting in MMA is already known to push fighters to their physical limits. The fact that some have turned to substances like alcohol just shows how desperate cutting the last few pounds may become. And to make things more interesting, the strawweight champion wasn’t the only one in the video with a bizarre weight-cutting tale to share.

Other UFC fighters reveal their wildest weight cut stories

Edson Barboza‘s story might be the most concerning of the bunch. When asked what the weirdest thing he has done to make weight, the longtime UFC veteran gave an answer that was almost unbelievably casual.

“Pass out, come back, keep going,” Barboza stated.

That is it. For anyone looking from the outside, a fighter passing out is an absolutely terrifying thought. After all, losing consciousness is a clear indication that something is extremely wrong, yet fighters might get so concentrated on hitting the number that they continue to push themselves.

Neil Magny, meanwhile, revealed that he once turned his own car into a makeshift sauna.

“I used to drive in my car to the venue with the heat on, full blast, and the sauna suit, trying to sweat in my car to make the last bit of pounds on the way to weigh-ins,” Magny said.

Imagine being stopped in traffic while wearing a sauna suit with the heater turned up, knowing you still have to go onto a scale at the end of the journey. But ‘The Haitian Sensation’ saw it as simply another step toward getting down to the required weight.

Then there’s obviously Dern and her alcohol story. The stories are bizarre to say the least, but they also reveal a very real part of professional MMA that fans do not often see. The fight may only last 15 or 25 minutes, but the battle with the scale can start days before the Octagon doors open.

Fighters spend hours sweating, restricting food and water, training while exhausted, and trying to manipulate their bodies in order to hit a specific number. And, as Edson Barboza, Neil Magny, and Mackenzie Dern revealed, the last few pounds can lead to some absolutely extraordinary situations.