Israel Adesanya, perhaps best known as ‘Stylebender,’ made his return to the octagon on Saturday night. The 35-year-old UFC fighter lost the middleweight title on a wild fourth-round submission by face crank.
Even though the result was not what he wanted, it took a lot of work for Adesanya to get back in the ring after 11 months away from the sport.
Jordan Sullivan, founder of The Fight Dietician, works with some of the top fighters in the world. He helps them to fine-tune their diets during training and gets them ready for competition. That includes rapid pre-fight cuts and gains.
Adesanya made weight at 185 pounds on Friday. However, he weighed closer to 210 pounds just six days prior and needed to drop all of that extra weight in less than a week.
A lot of the weight loss stems directly from a lack of water. Fighters hit the sauna and sweat it all out.
They also need to eat accordingly while not losing their fitness. This is where Sullivan steps in!
He fine-tuned the Stylebender’s diet to get him down to 185 from 210. All of the meals are high-protein and low-carb. Portions are small.
Sullivan and Adesanya’s efforts made for a successful weigh-in, at which point he needed to put the weight back on before the fight. It starts with rehydration. That is the biggest priority.
Adesanya also eats five high-protein meals and a pre-fight snack with eight to 10 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram.
- MEAL 1
- Overnight oats with strawberries, bananas and chocolate chips
- MEAL 2
- Banana and chocolate chip protein pancakes with eggs and bacon
- MEAL 3
- Teriyaki chicken, rice and potatoes
- MEAL 4
- Hony barbecue chicken and wild rice
- MEAL 5
- Sweet chili chicken and rice
- SNACK
- Rice cakes, Nutella, banana and honey
All of the different foods have a specific purpose and every day is not necessarily the same meal. For example, honey performs on par with glucose as a sporting fuel. Red chilis help to fight pain, improve blood circulation and act as anti-inflammatory agents. Rice cakes contain a lot of carbs and very little fat, which provides an energy boost but doesn’t sit in the stomach.
UFC fighters have to be very strict in what they eat, especially before and after their weigh-ins. Israel Adesanya is a finely-tuned machine!