MMA fighter Jake Hadley revealed that he had a near-death experience during his weight cut ahead of a UFC card, which he believes affected his performance in the bout, resulting in his loss to Cody Durden.
MMA fighter Jake Hadley had a frankly terrifying experience while cutting weight ahead of his UFC bout on Saturday. Going up against Cody Durden in a preliminary battle at UFC Nashville, Hadley was handed a unanimous decision defeat following a furious fight. This disruption in his winning streak was a sting – Hadley had previously won two fights consecutively. Furthermore, weight cutting has been an issue for him in the past, evidenced when he failed to make the required weight ahead of his successful submission win on the Contender Series in October 2021.
After the defeat, Hadley voiced his concerns about the weight cut on Twitter, going as far as describing it as a near-death experience. In his tweet, he revealed, “Lost the fight, few things went wrong before the fight. I almost died during the weight cut, I actually saw God for a second, couldn’t rehydrate like normal, it felt like that had a major effect on my performance because I couldn’t push like normal, anyone who knows me knows I never gas.”
In another tweet, Hadley mentioned his plans to rectify the mistakes he made and expressed his readiness for the next fight. He also appreciated his opponent, Cody, for surviving the armbar and called him a ‘true warrior.’ He praised the Nashville fans, whom he found to be ‘absolutely amazing,’ and acknowledged the many people who suggested he should have been awarded the Fight of the Night (FOTN). He modestly stated, “I don’t know, but Durden deserves a bonus.” Following his defeat in less than a minute by Muhammad Mokaev at UFC London in March 2022, Durden has proven himself noteworthy with an impressive four-fight winning streak, boasting a 5-1 record in his last six bouts.