Poatan’s sacrifice to cut weight at UFC 307

Before carrying out yet another successful title defense in the light heavyweight division, Alex Poatan Pereira went through an intense process during the weight cut for the UFC 307which took place on October 5th.

The champion’s normal weight is close to 104 kg, that is, more than 10 kg above what the category allows for a belt defense —the limit is 92.9 kg or 205 pounds.

On his YouTube channel, Poatan himself showed that a few hours before the official weigh-in, he still needed to lose almost 7 kg.

With the support of his team, the Tupiniquim began an intense weight-cutting process that included aerobic exercises such as running and fighting movements led by Glover Teixeira and Plinio Cruz, in addition to the use of thermal clothing, sauna time, towels and a blanket. aluminum.

This entire process left Pereira quite weakened; at one point, he needed help to take off the three layers of clothing he was wearing.

A few minutes before the weigh-in, he still needed to lose another 1.3 kg — fighters must step on the scale between 9 am and 11 am local time the day before the fight; The weight cutting process began shortly after 6am.

The fighter then went to the bathtub for one last dehydration session, finally reaching the weight limit to defend his belt against Khalil Rountree Jr.

Poatan gains 10 kg in 24 hours

After the official weigh-in and the ceremonial weigh-in for UFC 307, Poatan returned to his normal eating routine, hydrated and even ate a barbecue on the day of the fight.

As soon as he arrived at the Delta Center, in Salt Lake City, hours before his fight, the Tupiniquim weighed himself again and showed that he had already increased from 92.9 kg to 103.5 kg in just over 24 hours — an impressive recovery.

“That’s the process. Lose and recover,” he said excitedly.

Afterwards, Pereira went to the locker rooms to start warming up before going into the octagon. The Brazilian needed four rounds to knock out Rountree and keep his belt.