LAS VEGAS – In the lead-up to Saturday’s UFC 229 meeting with Anthony Pettis, Tony Ferguson talked about the numerous changes he’d made in order to get to the next level as a fighter.

Some of those transpired over the past five months, a time Ferguson has spent recovering from knee injury to return like “a phoenix reborn.” But, even before that, he said he’d been making changes that transformed him into a “new man” – and that included giving up drinking.

Speaking to MMAjunkie during a media day on Thursday, Ferguson clarified that his drinking didn’t go as far as to become a problem. But, ultimately, it was something that was “limiting” him.

“It was like a weight,” Ferguson said. “It’s like a heavy weight that’s on you, and you don’t even realize that you need. That’s why I looked at (ex-champ Conor McGregor), and I was like, ‘Dude, you’re doing this a couple of weeks before?’ And I kind of, I looked at it, and you can’t hate on somebody like that.

“What I realize is that my full potential – not even just that, with drinking, but eating right. Adding supplements. Adding the right nutrients. You have to realize, if you don’t put the right stuff inside your body, you’re going to get (expletive).”

As Ferguson repeatedly stressed throughout his chat with reporters, his body is doing pretty well. Whether it’s “doing sprints faster than a 22-year-old” or easily lifting 72-pound kettle bells, the former UFC interim lightweight champion is confident in his training methods.

We’ll see the final results of that on Saturday in the pay-per-view co-headliner at T-Mobile Arena, but Ferguson did look on point as he stepped on the scale to confirm the lightweight bout. Ferguson hit the 155-pound mark on the dot, despite being allowed one extra pound considering it’s not a title bout. (via Twitter)

With the possibility of being an alternate for tomorrow's main event, @TonyFergusonXT made championship weight for his scheduled bout vs. Anthony Pettis #UFC229 https://t.co/Mq3XYiUQkf pic.twitter.com/kAVEuN2d4l — MMAjunkie (@MMAjunkie) October 5, 2018

A former lightweight champion, Pettis needed more time to step on the scales Friday but made it nonetheless. It was his third time hitting the lightweight limit since a two-fight featherweight stint.

It’s been almost two years since Pettis last had to hit the 145-pound mark. But Ferguson (23-3 MMA, 13-1 UFC) believes the effects of that might still linger on Pettis’ (21-7 MMA, 8-6 UFC) body.

“It’s going to be a hard one for him, because he had to cut down to 145 pounds,” Ferguson said. “When you do that, your bone structure, your muscles, the amount of oxygen in your brain – everything changes when you cut so much weight. And then you try to gain it back. I can see a lot of baby fat on him. And when it happens, that means your body is confused. You don’t know what’s going on. This (Ferguson’s body) is not confused. It’s rock.”

Ferguson meets Pettis looking to expand a record winning streak that includes notable victims such as ex-champion Rafael dos Anjos, as well as Kevin Lee and Edson Barboza. If he gets past Pettis on Saturday, that will make it 11 in a row for “El Cucuy.”

Clearly, Ferguson is confident that he possesses the skills to pull it of. He won’t, however, predict exactly how it’s going to happen.

“I don’t like to talk took much on techniques and stuff, because then you start worrying about it,” Ferguson said. “People are like, ‘Are you going to knock him out?’ ‘No.’ ‘Are you going to submit him?’ ‘No.’ ‘What are you going to do?’ Buy the pay-per-view, watch the mother (expletive) and take notes.”

To hear more from Ferguson, including why his bouts with dos Anjos and Barboza are his favorites, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC 229, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.