Jelly Roll has undergone a massive transformation. After dropping 200 lbs with a solid diet and exercise, the American rapper now carries a noticeably leaner frame, and honestly, he looks almost unrecognizable. But as Jason Bradley DeFord (stage name: Jelly Roll) keeps inspiring people walking the same path, he reveals that his own motivation came from an unexpected place: UFC CEO Dana White.

The singer and songwriter battled obesity for most of his career, weighing well over 400 lbs. However, once he locked in with discipline and real hard work, Roll managed to lose a stunning amount of fat, or as he described it, a whole entire Ilia Topuria.

Jelly Roll reveals Dana White’s influence on his weight loss journey  

“It’s been a year and a half we did the pod, and I was bragging about being 420 pounds because I’d lost 20 pounds, and I was here excited about those 120, you know. I’ve lost Ilia Topuria since then,” Jelly Roll told Joe Rogan on the Joe Rogan Experience #2424.

That perfectly shows how he built momentum from his early progress and kept pushing without any distractions. That’s real discipline. Along with that mental toughness, Roll also introduced a few new habits, like cold plunging, a routine he admitted came straight from Dana White’s influence.

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“But I had an idea. I’m not cutting out food, I’m not doing anything crazy. I’m gonna do two small things first. I’m gonna cold plunge because I have been watching Dana White do it, and it seems to be working for him, and that’s how naïve I was about the whole thing at first. I was like Dana’s cold plunging; they got in shape,” he added in the JRE podcast.

Roll didn’t reveal exactly how helpful using the same approach was, but he did share that he consulted White’s friend, Gary Brecka, to help guide him on the journey as well.  

The American rapper consulted with Gary Brecka  

Gary Brecka is a well-known human biologist whom Dana White trusts a lot with his health. Once, the UFC CEO even shared a story about how Brecka actually saved one of his cousins from Lyme disease. And beyond that, White has consistently shown confidence in Brecka’s guidance, since Brecka played a major role in the UFC boss’s own weight loss journey as well.

So when Jelly Roll asked Brecka about the necessary steps to kickstart his weight loss journey, the human biologist recommended something simple but incredibly effective for shedding pounds: taking steps, up to 10,000 a day. The rapper wasn’t exactly thrilled with that idea, especially considering the 500 lbs bodyweight he was carrying at the time.

“I reached out to Gary, right around that 39th birthday, I reached out to Gary Brecka, and I sent a message to Brecka, ‘Do you work with fat people?’ Cause I hadn’t seen a case study of fat people yet. Gary was like, ‘Just start by walking 10,000 steps a day, and get in a cold plunge.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, I’m 500 something pounds, Gary. 10,000 steps is crazy talk,’” Roll added in the Joe Rogan podcast episode.

Well, for Jelly, it might have been tough in the beginning, but the entire process turned into a massive reward. And now, as one of the most recognizable personalities openly shares his struggles with weight loss—a battle so many people go through today—do you think his journey can spark inspiration for others?

Let us know in the comments section below.