How Khabib burns off weight before a fight. Is victory worth the exhaustion of the body?

Friday morning was the official weigh-in ceremony before the UFC 242 tournament in Abu Dhabi. Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Puryear met the limit of 70.3 kg and now can not think about the weigh-in. It is known that Khabib needed to lose 6 kg 2 days before the weigh-in. The fighter managed to cope with this task, he even had 100 g left in reserve.

Why did Khabib need to lose weight?

Before fights, the Dagestani constantly has to shed 8-10 kg, as his weight during training camp is usually 78-80 kg, in the off-season – 84-88 kg. Nurmagomedov’s maximum weight was recorded in the summer of 2017 – 90 kg.

The trick is that in the 36 hours that pass from weigh-in to the fight, Khabib gains his usual weight and due to this often becomes larger than his opponent and, therefore, can use this advantage in the fight. For example, during the fight with McGregor Khabib weighed 79 kg. Conor, on the contrary, had to gain weight to get into the category of Khabib from the semi-lightweight (61 – 66 kg). Nurmagomedov could perform in another category, but then he would have to compete with larger fighters, and so he feels quite comfortable in the status of champion in the lightweight and is unlikely to want to change anything.

How does Khabib’s weight cut go?

2 months before the fight Khabib gets in shape, he trains in the morning, at lunch and in the evening. That’s how he loses the first 4 kg. 20 days before the fight he goes on a diet, observing the same loads as before the fight. In this way he loses another 4-5 kg.

Habib’s diet: more salad, fruit and water, refusal from carbonated drinks and flour after 7 pm. Meat is excluded from the diet. Preference is given to chicken in small quantities for lunch, as it is quickly digested, and fish.

As the weigh-in approaches, the amount of water consumed per day is increased from 4 to 8 liters. Three days before the weigh-in, Khabib’s weight is approximately 76 kilograms. For each subsequent training session, he tries to shed 1.5 kg. In the last training sessions, the emphasis is on motor activity. Dagestan starts to eat and drink less and less.

36 hours before the weigh-in Khabib’s weight is 74-75 kg. This is where the most difficult part of the weight race begins – drying. To eliminate all water from the body, Khabib stops eating and drinking completely.

And the remaining 3-4 kg – I run, I suffer, you could say. I race in the sauna. I tried hot baths once – I didn’t like it. When you have no way out, when you have 2 kg extra, a couple of hours before the weighing and you can not run – you have to use the steam room. It is better, of course, without the steam room, because it tires you, it makes your heart weak. But if there are no options, you have to use it.

Khabib is constantly weighing himself to control his numbers. Before the fight with McGregor, Nurmagomedov reached the required parameters only 7 hours before the weigh-in. His condition was terrible, he vomited, but by the evening he felt normal.

If you have been training steadily for three months, if you are in good shape, you recover quickly after the weigh-in. If you’re in bad shape, the race takes all your strength, you won’t recover for the fight.

On Friday, Khabib stood on the scales naked and shook his fists from behind a screen that covered the bottom of his emaciated torso. It’s not the first time he’s done this. In 2013, during the weigh-in before his fight with Pat Healy, the Dagestani had to strip naked in order to fit into the category and not pay a fine for not meeting the limit, which is 20 percent of his fee.

Has Khabib ever had a bad weightlifting experience?

In 2017, Khabib was unable to compete in his UFC 209 title fight with Tony Ferguson due to poor health. Within minutes before the weigh-in, it became clear that Khabib was not only unable to fight, but also in principle to function normally. When the Dagestani had a couple more kilograms to lose, the fluid stopped coming out of his body. Khabib said that he felt so bad that he didn’t remember how he had driven the weight on the last night. As a result, the Dagestani was taken to the hospital. Khabib recovered his health for the next 7 months.

Is it possible to tighten the rules and not allow fighters to cheat with weight?

Demands to tighten the rules of weight control have been put forward more than once. One way is to have an official weigh-in on the day of the fight so that fighter’s weights don’t vary so much. This idea is opposed by medics, who believe that athletes who are weakened by weigh-in can get seriously injured during the fight.

In addition, this innovation is disadvantageous to the organizers, because if an athlete does not fit into the weight limit a day before the fight, he can be replaced or agree to hold a fight in the intermediate weight. In this case, the fight is held without weight limit, and the official titles are not played. And if the fighter does not fit into the regulations an hour before the fight, it will be too late to change him, and the tournament organizers will lose a lot of money.

This morning Khabib’s father and trainer Abdulamanap Nurmagomedov said that his son has already gained 8 kg since the weigh-in. Thus, as expected, at the time of the fight Khabib will weigh 78-80 kg. Whether this will help the Dagestani to defend the championship title, we’ll find out tonight.

This is absolutely the best weight race of my career. Of course, it was hard for me, but it’s the best – that’s for sure”