There’s no way Claudia Gadelha could have kept this harsh weight cutting regime up.
The Brazilian UFC star will be getting her crack at the Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s strawweight title in the main event of the Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale on July 8.
Gadelha did not take part in the historic TUF 20 season in which the promotion’s inaugural 115 lb champion was crowned as she wasn’t able to make championship weight several times in such a short period in the TUF house. Carla Esparza took the belt by beating Rose Namajunas in the finale, but was swiftly dethroned by Jedrzejczyk in her first defence.
She's in serious shape https://t.co/vkCGzE8dfZ
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 19, 2016
Gadelha told MMA Fighting that she has drastically changed her approach to cutting weight recently and she’s already noticing the improvements. She claims she used to cut 22% of her body weight just to come in under the limit.
“I don’t cut much weight anymore. I learned that by losing much weight, I also lose performance inside the Octagon, so I’m staying lighter now. I learned to eat better, so I live on a diet now. I don’t go out of my diet a day now, not even on the weekends, because I have to be around 126 pounds to cut 13 or 15 pounds before the fight. No more cutting 22, 33 pounds for me.”
“I think it’s already tough for a male athlete, and it’s even worse for a female athlete. It’s bad for your performance on fight night, so I’m living on a diet so it doesn’t become an issue n the future.”
This makes it all the more impressive that she was able to take current champ Joanna the distance a very closely fought split decision loss back at UFC on Fox 13 in December 2014. The rematch promises to be an epic.
