A very different Sabah Homasi will enter this Saturday’s Bellator 299 in Dublin, Ireland.
Homasi (17-11) faces Georgian Levan Chokheli in a main card welterweight match-up at the 3Arena in Dublin, and is feeling considerably improved ahead of his latest fight.
“I made some changes, and I wish I would have done it a long time ago,” Homasi told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview in advance of the fight. While Homasi revealed he was hospitalized ahead of his last fight, against Brennan Ward, he wasn’t ready to dig into that just yet. Instead, he focused on the big lifestyle change he made for this fight camp.
“What I did different this camp is, I’ve cut out alcohol,” Homasi revealed. “I’m over three months now, and typically in my prior fights, I would cut out liquor and beer eight weeks out from the fight, and I’d only drink red wine. But at the end of the day, I’m still consuming alcohol. I’m not having a glass— some days I’ll have a glass, two glasses, and other days I’ll have a bottle, two bottles of wine. And that’s what’s going to affect you in the long run.”
Downing up to two bottles per day of red wine, it’s amazing Homasi found as much success as he did all these years. Which is perhaps a scary notion for opponents moving forward.
“This camp, as soon as I got word of the fight, I cut it out completely. Sleeping better, mental clarity, the benefits are just unreal,” Homasi added, “and I’m just mad at myself for not doing it sooner.”
Cutting out alcohol is a move that Homasi expects will be a lifestyle change overall. At 34, after all, he’s not a kid anymore.
“Absolutely. Of course everyone likes to go out with their friends, have a good time, have a couple drinks.” The problem Homasi found was, even saving those really big nights for weekends, recovery was getting harder and harder. “We have a crazy night, and I’m not 21, 25-years old anymore. If I do go out and I have a night and I get drunk, now I need f*cking two days to recover.”
“In future, there’s gotta to be a reason for me to go out and drink. Celebrating something, a birthday, whatever it is. Social gatherings, I can have a couple drinks, hang out. But for me to go out out and have a night, there’s got to be a special occasion for that.”
Sabah Homasi is fighting outside the United States for the first time this weekend, and Ireland in particular is known for having a boisterous, enthusiastic fanbase. There’s a good chance Homasi can win those fans over at Bellator 299, especially since he’s not fighting a local guy.
“I believe my fighting style draws those type of fans, the crazy rowdy ones. That’s why people watch this sport,” Homasi noted. “I go out there and put on a performance; it’s kill or be killed with me. I either leave with my shield or I go out on it.”
Homasi’s opponent, Levan Chokheli, is on a two fight win streak. But, suggested Homasi, it’s “nothing that I haven’t seen. He’s a young fighter, talented, he’s a tough guy.” Everyone at this level of the sport is a tough guy, however, in Homasi’s estimation. “You’re not going to make it if you’re not tough.”
“I know he’s tough, I know he’s coming to put on a great performance himself. But I think what the factor’s going to be here is experience. I have a lot more experience, I think I’m better than him everywhere. Striking, wrestling, grappling, all of it. But he throws big punches, and as long as I’m on my game and don’t get hit with those big shots, I’ll be fine.”
Watch our full interview with Bellator 299’s Sabah Homasi above.
