Issue 159

Dehydrating yourself for a same-day weigh-in is a recipe for defeat. Weight-cut guru Mike Dolce gives his expert advice on the right way to do it.

Making weight on the day of competition is a reality for most local-level fighters and grapplers. If you’re one of them, you might long to compete like the cream of the crop, but shedding large amounts of water weight through sweat just as they do prior to a weigh-in will leave you meek, not mighty. 

Why? They have 24 hours to replenish their body with water and nutrients and you only have minutes. The result is a fighter drained of the necessary fuel needed for peak performance. “Should you approach a same-day weigh-in as a day-prior weigh-in,” says Mike Dolce, former fighter and now weight-cutting coach to UFC stars like Chael Sonnen and Vitor Belfort, “you will not compete up to your potential and can only hope for victory if your evenly matched opponent did it worse.”

WHAT’S THE SOLUTION?

If you don’t want to lose your edge on the morning of the most important fight of your career, avoid cutting water weight at all, Dolce advises. He adds that you can’t regain “much useable energy or any size advantage” in the short window of time between stepping off the scales in the morning and fighting in the evening.

So, how do you get on weight for fight night? “Reduce your body weight during training camp to near your competitive weight,” says Mike. “This way, you will ensure ample strength, energy and the ability to execute your technique.” 

Competitors should begin the process of losing weight as soon as their bout is scheduled. “Reduce body fat to the necessary point that you are simply within a bowel movement of your weight class on competition day,” recommends Mike. “The preferred general body fat for combat is 7–10%.” Achieving this will obviously involve careful monitoring. Be ready for many trips to the scale during preparations to ensure you’re honing in on your weight class ready for fight night.

WHAT TO EAT

Part of Dolce’s fight-proven philosophy is eating earth-grown nutrients, and what he applies to his UFC clients holds true for fighters of all levels as they’re gearing up for competition and dropping fat. Dolce says: “We need to only consume foods of maximum absorption and avoid any foods that do not offer complete nourishment.” 

So ensure you’re taking on nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables and are sidestepping anything that’s all talk, like salads drenched in dressing. Dolce also earmarks munching “foods that aid efficient digestion,” so think fibrous fare, such as nuts and oatmeal, not fast fat.

That advice is echoed in what foods a starving scrapper should avoid. Aside from trying to dodge sodium, found in starchy carbohydrates and products high in salt (sodium chloride, obviously), Dolce warns against “fried, heavy in dairy, and most preserved products.”

THE BOTTOM LINE

If you’re a fighter trying to get the jump with your same-day weigh-in processes, do it through your diet; this is one time performing like the pros won’t lead you to Octagon glory.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE CUT WATER WEIGHT

So, for whatever reason, you’ve had to sweat out those slippery, elusive pounds for your same-day weigh-in. You’re dehydrated and now you need to replenish your body ready to step into the ring in a few hours’ time. “Right off the scale, water is most important,” says weight cut master Mike Dolce. “Then start to work in simple fruits like orange slices, grapes and fresh berries. Once the metabolism starts moving again the athlete should slowly begin to introduce similar foods to what they would eat on the hardest day of training camp. These foods can be vastly different for each athlete. Of course, I always use and recommend earth-grown nutrients.”