Fighters Only

Issue 141

May 2016

UFC middleweight Scott Askham reveals why he chose MMA over a competitive-eating career

Q. What do you eat when you’re training for a fight?

A. I have all my meals prepared by So Many Foods: three meals a day and two snacks. They vary through loads of different stuff. My favorite breakfast is frittatas. One of my snacks is a muffin – obviously it’s healthy. The food is out of this world. They know every bit of training I do, my bodyweight – all that. Everything’s balanced out. They sort everything out for me, which I greatly appreciate. I have no worry with my weight cut or anything.

Q. Do you let loose after you’ve made weight?

A. After making weight it’s mainly about rehydrating. I’ll rehydrate properly first – make sure I’ve got all the correct fluids back in my body – then I do like to have a Nando’s.

Luckily enough, in Dublin and London I got to have a Nando’s but with my last few fights being in Europe, I didn’t get to have one. But I found some pretty nice places to eat. In Berlin we found a Turkish place to eat that was lovely. When we first get down there that’s the main job really – finding places to eat so we’re not waiting about and we know where we’re going straight after weigh-ins.

Q. How do you rehydrate after weigh-ins?

A. I have an isotonic drink made up by my coaches. I don’t know how they do it, to be honest with you. They just tell me to drink it and I drink it (laughs).

Q. Do you allow yourself any cheat meals?

A. I wouldn’t say cheat meals but I have my Sunday dinner. I’ll not be too greedy, I’ll not have a massive plateful.

Q. What is your number-one luxury food?

A. I do like a Sunday dinner with all the dressing on, with stuffing balls and pigs in blankets. Christmas dinner is my favorite.

Q. Do you eat clean when you’re not in camp?

A. I am a blow-out, to be fair. Not full-on, just about a week or something. I do a lot of eating challenges – I’m quite good at eating – so me and a few of the lads will get together and we’ll have a competition. We’ll find a burger challenge or something.

Last time we had a burrito challenge. I failed that one, which I was a bit disappointed about, so we might try that one again and make sure I get it finished.