Diet for Mixed Martial Arts Fighters a Complete Guide

Mixed Martial Arts requires you to be in peak form. Fighters performing excellent in MMA are among the fittest athletes because of their commitment to clean eat. In MMA, athletes punch, strike, kick and do submissions to hold their opponents for wining. The fighters must be more powerful, faster and agile than their opponents. An MMA fighter’s diet has to provide enormous amount of fuel for exhausting workouts but it also should be refined enough to allow the fighter to make some weight.

Follow the points explained by qualified sports dietitian to make a perfect diet plan according to your needs.

Eating Clean

Clean eating means eating unprocessed foods at most of the meals you have. Eating fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, nuts and seeds are the pillars of a mma fighter’s on and off-season diet. If you want to be a top UFC fighter then you need to avoid processed foods, such as chips and soda.

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In off season fighters may have some sweets and ignore the calories count but they still need to stick to the plan of eating unprocessed food. Muhammad Ali, The Great Heavyweight boxer, didn’t use weights to ready for a fight. Instead, he relied on calisthenics and smart dieting. John Manley, Professional MMA fighter since 2007, told in his interview that a “typical day’s menu for MMA fighter should consists of a lean meat, eggs and vegetables at breakfast; chicken with pasta and sweet potatoes at lunch; shepherd’s pie consisting of ground turkey, peas and sweet potatoes at dinner; and snacks of Greek yogurt with protein powder and all-fruit preserves mixed in.”

Training Hard

Train hard and try to prepare all your meals at home when training. Always stick to the water and coffee and avoid soda. When you are leading up to a fight, start increasing the eating frequency per day from 3 to 5 times a day with 3 hours break. In your meals, only add chicken, turkey or steak, vegetables and some fruits.

Mac Danzig, a vegan MMA fighter, also eats multiple times daily, he consumes oatmeal grain salads, brown rice, vegetables and sometimes his meals includes meals consists of large snacks, nuts, dried fruit and chips or protein bars.

Supplements

Protein supplements are really necessary for an MMA fighter’s diet. Athletes who exercise daily on high intensities for strength and endurance training need more protein to support their muscle growth.

International Society of Sports Nutrition says, athletes require 0.7 to 0.9 gram of protein per pound of their body weight daily. Protein is also important because it support the recovery process after workout.

Fish oil can also benefit the Mixed Martial Arts fighter by fighting the inflammation high levels of training cause and it also help faster recovery between workouts. Many World Class fighters use fish oil in their daily diet. Always consult with your doctor before adding supplements to your diet.

References:

UFC fighter Mac Danzing

UFC fighter Frank Mir’s MMA Diet and MMA workouts

Boston Magazine