How diligent are UFC fighters with their diet?

[Legumes]

No way he's eating 7000 calories in one pasta meal lol

He doesn't claim it during the video, it was probably added for clickbait

He did claim he fasts for 24hrs, so maybe they meant 7,000 calories per two days. That's very believable for a guy that's like 150lbs(he grapples at 134lbs, so I'm sure he's at least 15-20 heavier than that when not cutting).

 

[Ube]

It’s hard to train if you’re not taking in calories. You know how hungry 3-5 hours of training makes you? It’s inevitable that fighters aren’t that good about diet. Even Floyd Mayweather admits to having a shitty diet.

 

[ulysse]

they can get away with eating not super clean

 

[Herwald]

I think it differentiates a lot depending the division, body type or just the person(how they choose to eat/what method they prefer for cutting).

This^. An ectomorph like Magny can probably eat anything.

 

[cmw43]

Charlie Olives posted a picture of him in McDonalds two days before weigh in. He then proceeded to miss weight.

 

[glenn777]

I remember Chandler when he was on Rogan espousing the chicken and broccoli life and gosh darn he looks the part.

 

[Ozze]

I don't think it has changed much. I think some of the top guys probably have some nutritionist or nutrition company hook them up with food for their camp so they probably have some standard diet.

The UFC has a company they use for fighters fighting out of their PE in Vegas. Here's what was given to Borrachinha on fight week for UFC 253:

"As for the ‘Borrachinha’ menu this wednesday, Trifecta prepared scrambled eggs and some fruit for breakfast. For lunch, two options with mahi mahi fish and complements such as: cucumber and avocado salad, asparagus, toasted walnuts and cilantro. At dinner, grilled salmon and asparagus. Two small portions of cheesecake, rich in protein and fat, were also made available, delivered by the company."

But that's probably during camp. When they don't have a fight scheduled it probably varies a lot from fighter to fighter.

 

[markg171]

I remember Chandler when he was on Rogan espousing the chicken and broccoli life and gosh darn he looks the part.

Chandler's also said when he's not in camp he does carnivore to help avoid blowing up between fights. Then in camp he eats 1200-1400 calories a day to go from 190 to 155.



Mind you he said this while eating a salad while out of camp which is obviously not carnivore. And while the calories sound about right for a normal person trying to go from 190 to 155 in 8-12 weeks while doing nothing but diet they're impossible for someone training 2-3x a day for hours at a time as he'd be doing for a fight.

So take it all with a grain of sand.

 

[T-dog.1337]

Most of the females are pretty good with their diets. that probably goes without saying.
If one isn't she must be pretty confident in herself because
a lot of womens value is placed in their beauty so
to eat til your hearts content.... haha is risky.

edit:
on the strawweight season of TUF (20) when they were pulling stuff out of fridge
everything was vegan
Just a bunch of veggies and fruit

update: after looking for the clip, i ended seeing 2 cakes on the table and wine on the counter so
everything i said is moot xD

 

[T-dog.1337]

All I know is that vegan is so hard cause of how strict it is
I have the type of mindeset where it's all or nothing
so if i eat a piece of cheese then i'm dismantling the entire diet becuase that's a faiil to me hahaha
like rn im drinking hot chocolate wih foam creamer
couldn't have that if i was vegan
not cool
well i guess plant based is better because u can have stuff like milk and honey and cheese
because you aren't killing the organism
but still .... haha well actually
maybe i might try tht shit again

 

[T-dog.1337]

Chandler's also said when he's not in camp he does carnivore to help avoid blowing up between fights. Then in camp he eats 1200-1400 calories a day to go from 190 to 155.



Mind you he said this while eating a salad while out of camp which is obviously not carnivore. And while the calories sound about right for a normal person trying to go from 190 to 155 in 8-12 weeks while doing nothing but diet they're impossible for someone training 2-3x a day for hours at a time as he'd be doing for a fight.

So take it all with a grain of sand.

they use fat burners too
which curb appetite
one time i did such a thing i didn't know it would work so well!
i took some from my mom cause she said it'll help u sh!t and i was like bet
well i'd be at the gym all day and barely think about food lol.
good times

 

[T-dog.1337]

Charlie Olives posted a picture of him in McDonalds two days before weigh in. He then proceeded to miss weight.

that was a 25,000$ meal

 

[Fedora Millionankles]

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


Fuck, that joke can get you cancelled nowadays

In todays Leftist world, if your Aunt had balls then she’s considered a woman. lol

 

[Dick]

Chandler's also said when he's not in camp he does carnivore to help avoid blowing up between fights. Then in camp he eats 1200-1400 calories a day to go from 190 to 155.



Mind you he said this while eating a salad while out of camp which is obviously not carnivore. And while the calories sound about right for a normal person trying to go from 190 to 155 in 8-12 weeks while doing nothing but diet they're impossible for someone training 2-3x a day for hours at a time as he'd be doing for a fight.

So take it all with a grain of sand.

1400 calories a day while doing intense exercise seems like absolute torture. I hope he throws a cheat day or 2 in there.

 

[pick999]

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

Bro's face doesn't match his body

 

[pamirec]

It’s just so hard to stay in shape or at least not get fat after retiring from fighting. You see some of these dudes nowadays and barely recognise them.

 

[joenewbie]

Unprofessional slobs by and large. In the major sports, those guys stay in shape and train year round. They use training camp to get in game ready shape. If you talk to people who have been around those big league sports, they will tell 40 to 50 years ago they only worked out in training camp. That shit doesn’t fly anymore except for these MMA guys. No wonder they miss weight so often.

Yes but the difference between the UFC and the big league sports has been well noted. It's not the same thing. A third baseman for the NY Yankees doesn't pay for his own personal coaches and trainers and nutritionists, plus he probably makes a lot more than an average UFC fighter. How many fight teams are worth one billion or more dollars? Every team in the MLB/NFL/NBA is worth more than one billion and the top teams are 7-9 billion dollars. Even the biggest fight teams can't match that.

 

[markg171]

1400 calories a day while doing intense exercise seems like absolute torture. I hope he throws a cheat day or 2 in there.

I'm on about 1400 calories right now going from 185 to 155 and there's no way in fuck I could do a fight camp. Perfectly fine for my couple lifting sessions and light cardio here and there, but hours of training multiple times a day for 8-12 weeks would never work on that little.

I'd have to imagine his calories only get that low in the last week or two when he's just working on getting the weight off, not truly training.

 

[TheOnlyGreatest]

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?

I think ultra-strict diets add absolutely nothing. Food is just fuel and it all gets broken down to the same molecules, regardless of where it comes from. And if you burn a lot of calories - it's almost impossible to eat "clean" and not feel like a barrel 24/7. Floyd Mayweather ate fast food in his prime and was completely fine. It's all about getting enough protein and carbs for recovery. The rest is bs.