Makhachev's confession that has surprised everyone: "I'm using creatine for the first time"

Islam Makhachev has transformed his physique with the mission of becoming a double UFC champion. The Dagestani fighter vacated the lightweight belt last May, announcing that he would move up to welterweight to face Jack Della Maddalena for the title. That fight will be the main event of UFC 322, which will take place on November 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York. In an interview with ESPN, Khabib Nurmagomedov's best friend revealed the routine he has undertaken to condition his body to his new weight class.

It should not be forgotten that Makhachev was a big lightweight, who cut a lot of weight in order to make the scales. Therefore, he had to take great care of his diet, and could not develop his physique to its full potential. With this weight gain, the Dagestani fighter has admitted that he is finally happy and can train at a higher performance, as well as making use of supplements to help him with this change.

I want to weigh around 87 kilos, and about 83 kilos during fight week

Islam Makhachev, in ESPN

"I'm using creatine for the first time in my life. Almost every day. Our first camp was focused on strength training. I started working with bigger guys. It's very hard to gain mass, but I finally got a little bigger. In the last two months, it's been a struggle. I was taking protein and creatine after every training session and tried to eat more, but it's difficult to gain weight when you're training twice a day," he said.

If he wants to be competitive at welterweight, where he will no longer have that size advantage over his rivals, he has to gain weight, and he has even confessed that "I want to weigh around 87 kilos, and about 83 kilos during the week of the fight. I used to weigh 82-83, now it's 87". On the day of the weigh-in he will have to weigh 77 kilos on the scales, and a six-kilo weight cut is nothing compared to the suffering he had to undergo to make 70 kilos at lightweight.

An extra help

Makhachev has highlighted the use of creatine as a key factor in being able to gain weight and be in optimal condition, as without this supplement it would have been much more difficult for him to gain those four kilos of muscle mass. For a grappling expert like him, it is very important to feel strong on fight day, otherwise he could struggle to keep his opponents on the ground.

It's the first supplement where I see real changes

Islam Makhachev, about creatine

"It's the first supplement where I see real changes. It helps with recovery, it helps to gain weight and gives strength," he said. There is a week and a half left for Islam to try to make history in the UFC and, as was the case with Topuria after his move up to lightweight, the doubt is how this new division will suit Khabib's star pupil

In the case of 'El Matador', it was already seen that nothing had changed, as he knocked out Charles Oliveira in the first round. However, on this occasion Makhachev will face a powerful striker like Della Maddalena, with a punch that he has possibly not faced until now. If he wins, the fight between Topuria and Islam would be closer, but this will undoubtedly be a litmus test to see if those four kilos of change have really suited the best lightweight in history.