Mike Dolce

Renowned nutrition advisor Mike Dolce talks about what he's brought to 'Team Sonnen'

Q: What is Chael like to work with?

Mike: “He is a pleasure to work with. I love the guy as a person but also as an athlete. The coach-athlete relationship is excellent. When it is time to focus he is very strict but when it comes time to relax he usually relaxes very well. He enjoys eating and having fun but he doesn’t have any bad habits other than junk food. He doesn’t drink alcohol, he doesn’t smoke cigarettes, he doesn’t do drugs, he goes to be early and he wakes up early, so he has all the great things in place. He also likes potato chips, donuts, burgers and soda, but we can deal with that.”

Q: We’ve heard he likes a sneaky McDonalds…

“Yeah he does and we are slowly trying to get him off that. I am giving him these recipes to replace that, which he absolutely loves. So each time we work together it gets better. This camp was the best one we had, I think. Chael, Vitor Belfort, Thiago Alves and Jake Ellenberger these are the biggest guys in their weight classes – Vitor gets up to 225, Chael is the same, Thiago gets up to 205, Johny Hendricks was 210 when I started working with him.

These guys are monsters and I am feeding them pancakes and pasta and turkey burgers and chili, all these delicious, monster recipes but based on quality nutrients they can both sustain their muscle mass and get lean to lose weight. Everybody knows my guys are always in shape, they always make weight, they always look phenomenal on the scale and they look amazing in the cage the next night. It's because I feed them and I don’t make them sacrifice, I don’t starve them. I feed my guys all the way up until fight night.

Q: Chael fought Michael Bisping end of January, 2012. What was his cut like for the Bisping fight?

“He peaked out at 233lb over the Christmas holiday. Now he was big and strong and he was training very hard, but he is a big guy and so he blows up and he gets heavy. Chael is in his 30s and he only just really started strength training because most of his life he has been wrestling and cutting weight, he just recently started lifting weights and starting to bulk up.

I can see Chael getting up to 240lb and still being a dominant middleweight. But he could certainly jump up to 205lb or even heavyweight, like he’s been talking about.”

Q: Is he allowed any cheat meals?

“We call them ‘earned meals’ not ‘cheat meals’ because its something that has a positive association, you have to go out and you have to earn it. You earn it by being extra diligent in your diet that week or by putting in that bit more training, harder roadwork, longer sessions, more intense sessions… you earn it. And you get to choose!

Cheating is a negative situation, you feel like you are doing something bad and so I say, ‘No, you have an earned meal because you have earned it. You have worked your ass off, you deserve it, it’s a prize.'”

Q: What junk food ‘prize’ does Chael enjoy most?

“Taco Bell and 7-Eleven donuts. God knows what he gets at Taco Bell and he gets the little powdered donuts from the 7-Eleven… Shocking I know. I can’t believe I am saying it. But that’s what it is, that’s his earned meal.”

Q: It’s funny how a guy with the persona of being the Dr Evil of MMA, treats himself to a little powdered donut with sprinkles on.

“Well that’s the thing, Sonnen is a unique guy, we can’t classify him or define him. He is constantly changing and constantly evolving so who knows what his new favorite cheat meal is going to be? It used to be burgers, it used to be a cheeseburger and a coke. And that was OK, I don’t like the coke so much but the cheeseburger is OK. I can get some good nutrients out of that.

So now he is on this Taco Bell/donut kick, who knows what drove him to that? But the next one could be anything. Before I started working with him, if someone asked me what his favorite meal was, I would have said fresh puppies, or Democrats!”

Q: What is Chael really like?

“Actually, he’s one of the sweetest guys I know. Me and my family are great friends with him and his family. He is both a phenomenal athlete and a great entertainer. What you see on camera is him also, it’s coming out of his mouth so that is inside of him.

But there is another version of Chael that I know, that is such a great guy. He will do anything for people. He is a great advocate of humanity, quite honestly. He is such a civilized individual. He has great etiquette and manners, which most people don’t. He will help little old ladies across the street, hold doors open, all those things.

And he is very generous, very altruistic. He donates to certain charities; you will never hear about it. It will never be discussed. He does so many things behind the scenes that will never be seen, that’s the real Chael Sonnen.”

Scott McQuarry

Jiu-jitsu and muay thai coach Scott McQuarry reveals the training methods he added to bring out the best in UFC star Chael Sonnen.

Q: How long have you been training Chael?

Scott: “I’ve been training Chael since 2011.”

Q: How has Chael evolved since you started working with him?

“He’s evolved in a lot of ways and I think that was apparent in the fight against Brian Stann especially. He’s really pulled together his submission game, which he'd had two choke submissions in his entire career before he met me. Not that I am trying to take credit for it or anything but we have really evolved with that. We’ve also cleared up a lot of his submission defense. And we’ve got a whole lot more tricks in the bag that nobody has even seen yet.”

Q: What type of training do you do with him on a daily basis?

“I take him for Muay Thai and jiu-jitsu, but I also work with him for a lot of the other stuff too. I help out with the strength training and roadwork; whatever is needed I usually get involved. I’m usually training with Chael anywhere between five and seven days a week.”

Q: What is Chael’s Muay Thai like?

“It’s coming on, it really is. He’s got to work on some flexibility a little more, but that’s a wrestler for you, they never seem to stretch a whole lot. But it’s getting up there believe me, we are taking it one step at a time. We are working with the things that he does best, which is elbows and knees. And they compliment his wrestling in the very best way.”

Q: Is his work ethic as intense in training as it is in the Octagon?

“Yes, of course, he’s an intense guy. One of the things I really like about working with him is that he’s always open to trying new things. I’ve worked with a lot of top-level guys and a couple come in and are like, ‘I got it all figured out, just show me the routine.’ Chael is more like, 'Where are the holes in my game and how do we fix it?' Often we try things and if it works we keep with it, if not we move on.”

Q: His wrestling is stellar, but what other facets of his game go unrecognized?

“One of the things that he is really good at that people will definitely be seeing a lot more of is judo. That’s my main background so we’ve been developing some really nice judo throws for the clinch instead of just going in and double legs and stuff. He’s working on a lot of sweeps, inside and outside, and really developing that area.”