Gillian Robertson explains marijuana use ahead of UFC 330 title shot

Ahead of her UFC 330 strawweight title shot against Mackenzie Dern on August 15 in Philadelphia, Gillian Robertson clarified her approach to marijuana use during fight camps and fight weeks. The Canadian fighter is a known cannabis advocate and regular user, but she is strategic about timing her consumption around competition. "420 is the only holiday that I celebrate," Robertson told Ariel Helwani. "Honestly, during fight week, I tune it down a little bit. I still smoke all through fight camp, and then, during fight week, it depends, obviously, on the commission and whether we're allowed to or not. And if we are, I usually will smoke up to weigh-in day, and then fight day, I don't like to smoke." Robertson emphasized that she views cannabis primarily as a recovery and relaxation tool rather than a performance enhancer. "I do think it helps with recovery, relaxing, and things like that, but I don't see the [performance-enhancing] benefits," she said. Robertson (17-8) is riding a five-fight winning streak into the title opportunity. Dern (16-5) claimed the vacant strawweight crown in an October rematch with Virna Jandiroba to extend her own winning streak to three fights. The topic of cannabis in MMA remains contentious following Nick Diaz's controversial fight result reversal decades ago after testing positive for the substance.