Alex Pereira, within seven fights in the UFC, managed to become not only a two-division champion, but one of the biggest superstars in the promotion. This is why after headlining the UFC 300 anniversary mega-card, he will replace Conor McGregor, the sport’s biggest-ever superstar, on UFC 303 after the latter’s injury.

The light heavyweight champion will rematch Jiri Prochazka after having defeated the Czech former champion just last year. And given the short notice nature of the bout, one of the concerns many fans have is if the champ would be able to make weight. And ‘Poatan’ addressed the issue in a recent interview.

‘Poatan’ reveals he still needs to cut over 20 pounds

Speaking on his official YouTube channel, Alex Pereira revealed that he had a long way to go before making the 205-pound light heavyweight limit for his UFC 303 title clash. While he still had about 22 pounds to cut, ‘Poatan’ was confident he would reach it in the remaining two weeks. “I’m weighing 103 kilos, [I have to lose] 10 kilos. I’m used to this. For this category [light heavyweight], for me, it’s way better. Have 15 days for the fight, have a good time to adjust the diet,” revealed the champion.

He further stated, “I’m already eating good, but I think something is still missing. I will fix it, better diet, program my training for these next 2 weeks. It’s going to workout.” 22 pounds may seem like a weight to cut, but that is nothing compared to the amount of weight the Brazilian used to cut in his middleweight days. Before moving up to 205 last year, the former champion kickboxer used to fight in the 185-pound middleweight division.

For the same, he used to cut a whopping 40 plus pounds from his walk-around weight, which is north of 230 pounds. One of the reasons he had moved up to light heavyweight was because of the absolute punishment his body took in making the 185-pound middleweight limit. This fact has been highlighted by Joe Rogan yet again, who was amazed at the likes of Pereira and the middleweight champ Dricus Du Plessis willing to endure so much pain and ‘torture’ to make their respective weight classes.

“It was a great f***ing fight [Du Plessis vs. Strickland at UFC 297] and Dricus is tough as sh**, man. That guy is so big it barely makes sense that he’s 185 pounds. I’m like, how the f**k do you get down to 185 dude? You’re huge. Big thick f**ker, but he does it. Just like Alex Pereira did it. Like there are guys that are willing to like really, really torture themselves,” Rogan told rapper Action Bronson on ‘Joe Rogan Experience #2164.’

The podcast host has been critical of fighters choosing to shed so much weight to fight in much lower weight classes than their walk-around weight. The 56-year-old had called ‘Poatan’s weight cut to 185 in the latter’s middleweight stint “sanctioned cheating” which raises the question, why is weight-cutting so difficult, and is it likely to be a factor in Pereira’s next fight?

Why cutting a significant amount of weight feels like “dying”

Given the huge amounts of weight Alex Pereira used to shed to make 185, cutting 22 pounds for his UFC 303 Jiri Prochazka bout does not seem so bad in comparison. Plus, the massive weight cut also makes a fighter’s chin much more vulnerable. Weight cutting involves not only eating a calorie deficit diet and exercising weight away, but also something much more painful: dehydration.

The human body is, on average, 60% water. This means the easiest way for fighters to lose weight quickly is to sweat it away and not replace it. Massive dehydration, of course, not only causes milder symptoms like dizziness and fatigue but also affects the brain, heart, and other organs of the body. Fighters such as bantamweight champ Sean O’Malley described it as “You feel like you’re dying.”

These adverse effects were demonstrated when ‘Poatan’ was knocked out cold in his UFC 287 rematch against Israel Adesanya last year. The two-division champ, of course, had been knocked out cold, needing multiple people and even hits of oxygen to wake him up. But since he would have to cut roughly the same amount of weight as Prochazka for their UFC 303 main event bout, neither 205-pounder is likely to have much of an advantage over the other in that respect.

Who do you think will emerge victorious at UFC 303? Drop your predictions in the comments below.