Friday's 'Inside MMA' profiles Tim Boetsch's big UFC 166 weight cut

Tim Boetsch said his weight cut for UFC 166 was the easiest of his career as a UFC middleweight.

That’s not something you’d expect to hear from a man who sheds 30 pounds in order to compete in the octagon, but apparently he works better on camera.

AXS TV recently got all access to Boetsch (17-6 MMA, 6-3 UFC) prior to his controversial split-decision win over C.B. Dollaway (13-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) at this past Saturday’s event, and AXS TV MMA reporter Ron Kruck followed “The Barbarian” as he slimmed to the 186-pound mark he made for the FOX Sports 1-televised bout. The drop is documented in a two-part special set to air on Friday’s new edition “Inside MMA,” which airs at 9 p.m. ET on the MMA-centric cable channel.

With weight-cutting a hot topic in the wake of Leandro “Feijao” Souza’s death, Kruck said the segment aims to show how the process can be done without endangering one’s health.

Boetsch, a former light heavyweight, told Kruck he struggled to make the 185-pound mark prior to a losing effort at UFC 162 against Mark Munoz.

“So this was motivation for him,” Kruck told MMAjunkie.com. “If you’re wondering what the toughest part of his diet when he was making weight, according to his strength and conditioning coach, it’s eliminating beer from that diet. I think we can all relate to that one.”

In the cage, Boetsch’s toughest task was overcoming from multiple eyeppokes he received from Dollaway, who was deducted a point for the infraction. Despite disadvantages in the statistical analysis of the bout, Boetsch won the fight on two scores of 30-26 (with Dollaway getting a 29-27 score).

The win snapped a two-fight skid for Boetsch, so the added help paid off.

“These guys all have their own ways and methods of hitting that mark and making weight,” Kruck said. “Tim was a great subject because he basically walks around at 215 (pounds) and drops 30 pounds to make that middleweight mark. He’s a great character. Although we’re not condoning or endorsing that this is the way to cut weight, it’s a way that a guy who drops 30 pounds has found the right way to do it for his body.”

Check out Kruck’s full report on Friday’s “Inside MMA.”

For complete coverage of UFC 166, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.