Gearing up for UFC 263, Israel Adesanya has been working on improving his cardio.
In a recent vlog posted on Adesanya's YouTube channel 'FREESTYLEBENDER,' the middleweight champion talked about how his breathwork has helped him achieve a better gas tank:
"I feel like, honestly, not even lying, I could go two another rounds. Like, even after the fifth round, I was like, let me see how fast I can bring my breath down and bring it back to gear one," said Israel Adesanya.
Adesanya further elaborated that, based on the intensity, he is able to switch gears between rounds. Bragging about his aerobic endurance, 'The Last Stylebender' claimed he could continue for two more rounds after a grueling session:
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"I think the fifth round was the only round where I used the gear four, which was a little bit heavy [mouth breathing]. But I went back to gear three. It's different. It makes a big difference. And I felt like within thirty seconds, in between the rounds, I was getting back into gear one. Yeah, I could have gone another two rounds," added Israel Adesanya.
Check out the third episode of the 'UFC 263 Fight Camp' series below:
Israel Adesanya is set to face Marvin Vettori next
Marvin Vettori solidified his case for the title shot with a lopsided performance at UFC Vegas 23 against Kevin Holland. 'The Italian Dream' was granted his wish by UFC brass and on June 12, Vettori will face Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC 263.
This will be the duo's second encounter inside the UFC octagon. The two combatants first met at UFC on FOX 29 in 2018, where Adesanya secured a razor thin split decision victory. Since then, Marvin Vettori has stacked up five consecutive wins, while Adesanya has gone on to defend the undisputed middleweight throne twice.
It will be interesting to see if Israel Adesanya's breathwork will assist him against the subduing wrestling pressure of Marvin Vettori.
Who do you think will take home the victory next weekend? Comment below.