Featured Image Credit: KSW
Topics: Eddie Hall, MMA
Josh Lawless
Eddie Hall makes his official MMA debut on Saturday and the former world's strongest man has opened up about his body transformation ahead of the bout.
Hall, who won the World's Strongest Man competition in 2017, has dabbled into combat sports in recent years and participated in 'The Heaviest Boxing Match in History', losing to rival Hafthor Bjornsson in 2022.
He wasn't done there, though, having knocked out the Neffati Brothers in a bizarre 2v1 MMA bout in August before losing Brian Shaw in an arm wrestling contest in December.
But at the age of 37, Hall is returning to the cage under the KSW banner for a super-heavyweight fight against Mariusz Pudzianowski.
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The 48-year-old is also a former world's strongest man, having won the title an impressive five times. He successfully transitioned to MMA and has had 27 career fights, winning 17 and losing nine.
Pudzianowski is coming off two consecutive defeats in KSW and he and Hall have come to a unique compromise of four-minute rounds with 90 second breaks.
Hall wanted two-minute rounds in a bid to avoid gassing out in the contest and has revealed he will weigh around 355lbs for the bout - slightly heavier than what he came in at for the boxing match with Thor in 2022.
At the time he lost a staggering 132lbs but with a monster carnivore diet, Hall believes he is in perfect shape to get the job done in Gliwice, Poland and will now look to shed any more before fight night.
“I'm about 350-355 lbs at the minute, and I'll probably fight at that," he told talkSPORT.
"I've got no intention to lose any more weight. My fitness is good. I've been doing the four minute rounds. I'm not gassing, I'm big, I'm strong.
“I've never heard a fighter say, ‘I wish I was weaker for that fight.’ So I've got no intention to lose weight, muscle mass or whatever.
“I can fight, I've got the lung capacity and I'm happy to go in at this weight.”
Hall had been training vigorously for a seven month period after signing up for an MMA tournament featuring Shaw, Martyn Ford and Mitchell Hooper but the scheduled February show was cancelled.
That left him in a little bit of limbo but a second opportunity came along. And having been working with UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall and being humbled by him, Hall has had quite the learning experience.
He added: "You can't get any better than that. He might not be the number one in the world, but in my eyes, I think he is the number one in the world when it comes down to it.
"So to go and hang with the best in the world has been a massive privilege.
"[It was] also a very humbling experience. I'll be honest, you spar with Tom and grapple with Tom.
"You don't realise how f****** w*** you are until you grapple and spar with someone like that!"