Ilia Topuria’s strict diet before combat, which is like “living in hell,” and the mandatory half-liter of wine.

Ilia Topuria is one of the biggest stars in the UFC today and this Sunday he faces Volkanovski in California with a goal set in stone: to be world champion. The Hispanic-Georgian sacrifices his life day after day for the perfect preparation in order to get into the octagon, a path to the fight that in this field of mixed martial arts is a physical and mental challenge. UFC fighters often lose weight quickly and brutally in the days before the fight, which is known as ‘cutting weight’. Related News standard No Ilia Topuria’s preparation to lose 15 kilos before a fight Rubén García Diet, the type of training and an extreme dehydration process are some of the keys to Ilia Topuria’s preparation on her way to the world championship featherweight in the UFC This means following an ultra-strict diet through which they lose around 10 kilos – or more – in just a few days. All this to be within the limits at the pre-fight weigh-in, in the case of Topuria, the featherweight category. The ‘Matador’ has spoken on many occasions about the exhaustive training that he carries out daily, but he always emphasizes that it is not just about physical work at all. A few months ago, on a visit to ‘El Hormiguero’, he explained it like this to Pablo Motos: «I train around 4 or 5 hours a day but it doesn’t stop there. After that I do other types of training to stay smart inside the octagon. I train mentally and spiritually. I work 24 hours a day. “Sometimes I wake up at night and I’m thinking about something related,” he said. Desktop Code View this post on Instagram A post shared by El Matador (@iliatopuria) Image for mobile, amp and app Mobile code View this post on Instagram A post shared by El Matador (@iliatopuria) AMP Code View this post on Instagram A post shared by El Matador (@iliatopuria) APP Code See this post on Instagram A post shared by El Matador (@iliatopuria) A routine that helps him maintain his usual weight of about 80 kilos and that varies in the weeks prior to the fight. turn due to the need to excessively reduce its volume by about 14 or 15 kilos, until it is around 66: «Now I weigh around 80 kilos and I have to stay at 66. First we train strength and then we make the transition to power. When there is a fight you have to lose a lot of weight… the first 5 are tough but the next ones are like living in hell,” the fighter admitted. Salt-free and water-based In addition to physical exercise that accelerates weight loss, the diet must be equally strict for the big moment of stepping into the octagon. For this reason, Topuria’s team of nutritionists measures the exact amount of salt they add to their daily meals and in the days immediately before the fight they only drink water: «On Sunday (six days before the fight) I drink four liters of water, on Monday I drink six, on Tuesday eight, on Wednesday I drink ten and on the short Thursday morning – the day before the weigh-in – I no longer drink any water,” he explains. In addition to not drinking a drop of water, accompany the drought with sauna sessions, which accelerates dehydration even more. The trick with half a liter of wine But the thing does not stop there and is that the night before the fight, the night from Friday to Saturday, the depression, the hunger, the dehydration are so strong that Topuria uses a curious trick to be able to reconcile sleep: «At 9 on Friday we have the weigh-in and it is difficult to sleep a lot. For this reason, I drink half a liter of wine because in these conditions it helps you sleep and also helps you dehydrate. The next day you wake up with a kilo less, so I kill two birds with one stone », he admits.