BJ “The Prodigy” Penn will not be calling up Mike Dolce for nutrition advice anytime soon.
And even if he did, according to Penn, Dolce probably wouldn‘t answer his call.
In a recent interview with BJPenn.com, The Prodigy opened up, detailing his issues with the creator of The Dolce Diet.
“I figured that paying this guy $1,000 a day, I could just focus on the fight, and Dolce would focus on the food and weight cut,” Penn said. “But I guess that was my job to focus on the food, and my weight, and the money was charity for the Dolce Diet.”
Penn told BJPenn.com he paid Dolce $22,000 for 21 days of work before his 145-pound debut against Frankie Edgar at The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale in July—$1,000 per day plus a $1,000 tip. After the fight, which Penn lost via TKO, the Hawaiian fighter spoke with BJPenn.com, saying, “As far as Mike Dolce goes, I would never hire him again for anything.”
In that interview, which took place Aug. 6, Penn did not elaborate on the complications he encountered working with Dolce. However, more than a month later, Dolce took the lead on the situation, speaking about Penn’s criticism on a recent episode of Joe Rogan‘s hit podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience (transcription via MMAJunkie.com’s Mike Bohn).
“It was one of the oddest training camps I’ve ever been a part of, and I was there for less than two weeks, physically, in Hawaii,” Dolce said. “Again, I had very little influence, very little influence. I was more like a chef. I would bring some really delicious food, and some things would get eaten. Some things wouldn’t.”
According to Penn, however, Dolce had significant influence in his camp. He directed several of Penn’s workout routines, oversaw Penn’s food and diet choices and even brought in sparring partners to gear up the legend for his featherweight debut.
On top of this, Dolce told Rogan, “He (Penn) had a house full of food. I personally brought tons of amazing food that was available.”
Penn, however, tells a different story:
There was no food in the apartment, and he never told me what to eat. That’s the first thing I thought after the fight, was that I should have just filled this place with food and not listened to Dolce. But when you pay someone that kind of money, you entrust them to do their job and take that off your hands.
Regardless of who one chooses to believe here, it’s clear that Penn will not be recommending Dolce on LinkedIn anytime soon. The two minds worked poorly together, and Dolce‘s positive track record with fighters such as Thiago Alves and Johny Hendricks—two men who shed an immense amount of weight to meet the welterweight limit of 170 pounds—suggests he will be just fine moving forward from this controversy.
For his part, Penn will not be needing Dolce‘s services anytime soon, as the former UFC welterweight and lightweight champion hung up his gloves for good following the loss to Edgar in July.
To read more of Penn’s complaints about Dolce‘s preparations and methods, read the full interview on BJPenn.com.
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