How diligent are UFC fighters with their diet?

[Ogata]

First thing first, I feel like dieting world has changed. 20 years ago, guys like Serra, Penn and Hughes kept it simple with either brown rice, chicken, broccoli or yam as their main cooked meals. I talked to Joe Riggs and he mentioned that he was mainly doing yam, chicken with lemon but then after training with Danzig, he would have days in which he was plant based. Billy Rush was the IT guy in nutrition and his method was simple which was, breakfast being either oats or a fruit shake and lunch and dinner was lightly cooked chicken or other animal proteins with some vegetable and complex carb lightly cooked.

This was pretty much it and most fighters back then were pretty lean to be fair. Billy Rush mentioned that he wanted his fighters lean because looks adds to their marketability.


Now 20 years later, the world of dieting has changed, we have carnivore, paleo, vegan, vegetarian and some fighters do not seem to diet at all. I am a bit confused. Do fighters still diet in a strict manner?

Just to clarify, I legit have no idea what is going on and would like to know what type of dieting style is trending or if its just calorie control?

 

[oski]

 

[glavinator]

Look at the majority of fighters between fights. That will tell you how diligent they are with their diets.

If you're asking what the most popular way of eating is, you're not gonna get a definitive answer

 

[ipowerslapmywife]

If fighters fought at their actual weight class they wouldn’t have to worry so much about diets

 

[markys00]

It does vary. Weight cutting techniques have evolved over the years, maybe even more than nutrition itself.

I think most fighters are reasonable when they're in-between fights, but you can't expect them to be perfect

 

[markys00]

If fighters fought at their actual weight class they wouldn’t have to worry so much about diets

If my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle ..


Fuck, that joke can get you cancelled nowadays

 

[JoeganMoldberg]

I didn't realize "lightly cooked chicken" was a thing...

 

[Wormwood]

As with anything,…

…depends on the fighter..

 

[Gabe]

Most of them only eat right in camp to cut weight. The rest of the time they eat like shit.

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

These guys eat knuckle sandwiches from what I’ve seen

 

[OldBoy91]

A lot of fighters have a very unhealthy relationship with food.

Makes sense too, if you can't eat what you want for weeks and weeks at a time, then the moment you can, you go wild and eat an obscene amount of obscene food. This is extremely common among fighters that cut a lot of weight.

 

[Gio]

Not a UFC fighter, but ONE Submission grappling champ Mikey only eats pizza and pasta, and does OMAD (one meal a day) diet.

 

[Portland8242]

Kelvin Gastelum kept an extremely disciplined diet of burritos and mcdonalds. Was very dilligent and committed to his diet.

 

[modulus]

Truth and impartiality, rely on the ultimate judge -
The Scale

 

[markys00]

I didn't realize "lightly cooked chicken" was a thing...

I think it means cooked in light/little fat

 

[RonDante]

As with anything,…
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…depends on the fighter..
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I think GSP might have the best physique ever

 

[RonDante]

I know chito said on that guy Bradley Martyn’s podcast that he just eats meat and fruit. I think he said he weighs 151 in the cage but I can’t remember

 

[Ogata]

I didn't realize "lightly cooked chicken" was a thing...

I think it means cooked in light/little fat

Correct, something like grilled or sautéed as opposed to deep fried or heavily garnished.

 

[Fjord]

Pete Sampras said something about how he only ate white rice and chicken every day for like 15 or 20 years. And that he was sick of it and was happy when he finally retired and could eat anything he wanted to.

But that discipline clearly paid off. And it seemed to be what his body needed.

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

I heard Tuivasa's trainer say that Tai had to lose 18kg (about 40 pounds) in a 14 week training camp once, and just to reiterate that's to make the heavyweight 265 pound limit.

So I'm not sure Tai is a brown rice, chicken and steamed vegetables operator outside of fight camp.