Jose Aldo’s Nutritionist Details Weight Cut For UFC 245

There were many concerns for former featherweight champion Jose Aldo and the weight cut for his bantamweight debut at UFC 245 last weekend.

However, Aldo made weight in the end and even looked good during his bantamweight fight with Marlon Moraes. Having claimed it was an easier weight cut than his previous ones at featherweight, the Brazilian went toe-to-toe with Moraes in a contest that lasted all three rounds.

Many had Aldo winning — but in the end, two judges saw it different as Moraes was handed the split decision. Still, given the all-round challenge, it was still a success that Aldo looked good. And part of the reason he was able to make the weight was because he hired a nutritionist — Dr. Priscila Antunes — and went on a diet for the first time.

“He hates nutritionists,” Dr. Antunes said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “But he trusted me. Aldo is very focused, you know? He had nowhere to run, he needed a nutritionist this time. He couldn’t do it by himself. And his diet was pretty easy.”

Aldo notably went on a ketogenic diet in the final week of his preparation which helped him shed the weight much easier:

“I think that’s one of the reasons why Aldo had so much cardio in his fight,” Dr. Antunes explained. “Many athletes tend to follow a protein diet before the weigh-ins. I’ve had that experience before but I think it broke my athletes. When I did the ketogenic diet with him, it worked.”

Dr. Antunes doesn’t have much knowledge of mixed martial arts but she did watch Aldo’s fight and thought he fared pretty well:

“I woke up with several text messages saying he looked incredible and the result was unfair, so I had to watch it,” she added. “I found the fight on YouTube and he really did great. Who am I to say if it was fair or unfair, but he really did great in the fight.”

Do you think Aldo should continue to fight at bantamweight?