Rafael dos Anjos reveals how infrared sauna caused body to overheat during recent weight cut

MMA News

Rafael dos Anjos reveals how infrared sauna caused body to overheat during recent weight cut

Rafael dos Anjos decided to use a different weight-cutting method in his last fight, and he believes it may have hampered his performance.

Dos Anjos (30-13 MMA, 18-11 UFC) faced Michael Chiesa at UFC on ESPN+ 24 in January and lost the bout via unanimous decision. Chiesa was able to use his grappling to control the the pace and positioning of the fight, outworking dos Anjos, who started to slow down in the latter rounds.

The former UFC lightweight champion is used to going the distance with no issues, having gone five rounds on numerous occasions. But last time out, dos Anjos says he experimented with a specific type of sauna that he thinks messed with his body temperature and energy levels during the fight.

“My last fight, Chiesa did a great job,” dos Anjos told MMA Junkie. “He’s a tough guy, nice guy though, but I fought so bad. I did something bad in my weight cut. I decided to cut the rest of my weight, like the rest of the eight pounds that I had, I decided to do a different type of sauna. I usually do exercise, but I decided to do infrared sauna because I found a little gym by the side of the hotel in Raleigh, and they had an infrared sauna, and I felt kind of weird. It took me like 10 minutes to break the sweat, and once I broke the sweat, it took me like 30 minutes. I did like 30 minutes, and by the time I got home, that was Thursday night, I felt overheated.

“Over the night, I felt so much headache, and I couldn’t sleep. I was so overheated, and I had to do an ice bath right after weigh-ins, and my body was overheated and I found out later on that these infrared saunas, they heat you inside out. They go right in the middle of your cells; they heat from inside out. I go five rounds with no problem, but for that fight, after the first round, I was pretty much done. I had no energy. That was pretty weird, and I think that was the infrared sauna that messed me up.”

Dos Anjos has been in a rough patch lately, having lost four of his last five, but remains competitive in all his outings. Though he didn’t feel like himself in his last loss, dos Anjos tips his hat to Chiesa.

“But credit to Cheisa, I don’t want to try to make any excuses,” dos Anjos said. “I don’t like to make excuses but everybody saw that I was done after the first round. I was so tired, I didn’t have the energy.”

Rafael dos Anjos reveals how infrared sauna caused body to overheat during recent weight cut