Yeah, let’s make that a large order of fries, please.
After spending his entire career as the undisputed GOAT in the 205-pound light heavyweight division in UFC, Jon Jones took the last three years off, bulking up and preparing for a move up to heavyweight.
He sure did pack on the pounds.
Jones reportedly employed an astronomical diet of 5,000 calories daily, including a heavy dose of body-building workouts in preparation to gain mass for his new opponents.
This extreme diet helped Jones improve his ability to deadlift over 600 pounds, a benchmark the team believes will help him adapt to the strength of his opponents at heavyweight.
“The amount of his absolute strength is through the roof, but his strength endurance even blows the old him out of the water,” Jordan Chavez, his strength and conditioning coach, told ESPN.
Jones has been well known for his fluid movements and explosiveness during his run in the UFC and believes that this weight change won’t negatively impact him.
His record of 20-1 shows his only blemish as a DQ loss to Matt Hamill, a fight he was dominating.
“I feel like it’s an ideal weight,” Jones said. “I have my endurance. I have my speed, explosiveness. I still jump high and shoot on takedowns very quickly.
“Whatever I got to do, you know? I feel good. I feel like a heightened version of my light heavyweight self.”
On Saturday, Jones will fight Cryil Gane for the vacant heavyweight championship.
The former heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, left the promotion due to a contract dispute earlier this year and left the heavyweight division in utter chaos.
Thanks to Jones’ new diet, the UFC hopes he can bring some stability to the big boy division.
