Photo | Israel Adesanya looks lean and mean weeks out of 205lbs debut at UFC 259

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya shared a new photo of himself looking lean and mean ahead of his 205lbs debut at UFC 259.

Adesanya meets UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz in the main event of the March 6 pay-per-view card. Instead of bulking up for his first fight at 205lbs, Adesanya and his coaching staff instead decided to stay at his natural walking around weight for this upcoming fight with Blachowicz. The team conceded that Blachowicz is the stronger fighter, so the hope is that by not having to cut weight, Adesanya will gain an advantage in speed and stamina.

With UFC 259 less than a month away, Adesanya shared a photo of his current physique on his social media. Check out what Adesanya posted on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLHCOJVnbM1/

#UFC 259 is stacked…and so am I

Adesanya is certainly making an interesting decision to not put on any bulk for his move up a weight class. As dominant as Adesanya has been at 185lbs, where he’s 20-0 including a 9-0 mark in the UFC alone, light heavyweight is a much different world. At 205lbs, which is 20lbs above his current weight class, Adesanya is set to meet physically stronger fighters such as Blachowicz. As one of the sport’s biggest middleweights, he should still be a decent-sized fighter at 205lbs, but he still won’t be as naturally strong as someone like Blachowicz.

Still, the goal is to stay lean and mean and have advantages other than pure strength and power in the fight. By not cutting weight, Adesanya should be able to have the gas in the tank to go a hard 25 minutes. He should also be the faster fighter, which is another edge. And here’s a crazy thought: what if he actually looks even better than ever at light heavyweight? We will find out our answer to that question just over a month from now when UFC 259 goes down.

How excited are you to see Israel Adesanya make his light heavyweight debut at UFC 259?