Israel Adesanya expects to weigh below 200 pounds in light heavyweight debut

UFC middleweight world champion Israel Adesanya sees himself weighing below 200 pounds in his 205-pound debut against UFC light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz at UFC 253 this Sunday, March 7 at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

“I’m gonna keep the same energy during my fight week. I’m not gonna go crazy and f*cking order Uber Eats and cakes and whatever. I’m just gonna keep the same energy,” Adesanya told ESPN.

“Put it this way, I could still make 185 if I have to. Don’t be surprised if I weigh in at like 193. Don’t be surprised.”

Adesanya, 31, is coming off a dominant second-round technical knockout win in his last outing against the previously unbeaten Paulo Costa at UFC 253 last September.

Blachowicz, meanwhile, captured the light heavyweight gold with a second-round stoppage over Dominick Reyes in the co-main event of UFC 253.

For Adesanya, it simply does not make sense for him to add muscles even though he is moving up in weight, citing that it is not what his body is accustomed to.

“It's just silly to me when people go and decide to add more muscles to their frame that they're not used to over the years they've been working this game. Don’t worry about weight, don’t worry about all that.” -- BAP, GMA News