(If this is a bad time, Mike, we can come back later | Photo via CombatLifestyle)
We just read a Q&A between the Las Vegas Sun and strength, conditioning, and diet specialist Mike Dolce — he prefers the term “performance coach” — and you should too. Dolce has worked with some of the biggest names in MMA in recent years, helping them get healthy and, notably, drop tons of weight before fights.
In the interview, Dolce discusses up-and-coming clients of his, who he thinks will become world champions next, his toughest projects ever, what his plan for Daniel Cormier is, and more. Check out some highlights below and then head over to the Sun to read the rest.
Chael was 233 pounds six weeks before the Michael Bisping fight. To go from 233 to 185 in six weeks is insane. The hardest issue — I would have to say Rampage is the hardest I’ve ever had to deal with. Not because he was the biggest or heaviest because he wasn’t. I helped Duane Ludwig lose 42 pounds in 13 days to fight Jim Miller on short notice here in Las Vegas. He went from 198 to 156 in 13 days with my coaching. It took eight weeks to do the same with Quinton.
Now it was so much easier with Duane because Duane is a professional; he’s a good guy with a big heart. He just got down to the business of working with no complaints, no objections, no obstacles. Some of these other guys, Rampage being one of them, everything was a challenge. He’s shown that not just with myself but with every business deal he’s ever been in.
On what made Jackson such a “challenging” client before his 2010 fight against Rashad Evans:
(If this is a bad time, Mike, we can come back later | Photo via CombatLifestyle)
We just read a Q&A between the Las Vegas Sun and strength, conditioning, and diet specialist Mike Dolce — he prefers the term “performance coach” — and you should too. Dolce has worked with some of the biggest names in MMA in recent years, helping them get healthy and, notably, drop tons of weight before fights.
In the interview, Dolce discusses up-and-coming clients of his, who he thinks will become world champions next, his toughest projects ever, what his plan for Daniel Cormier is, and more. Check out some highlights below and then head over to the Sun to read the rest.
Chael was 233 pounds six weeks before the Michael Bisping fight. To go from 233 to 185 in six weeks is insane. The hardest issue — I would have to say Rampage is the hardest I’ve ever had to deal with. Not because he was the biggest or heaviest because he wasn’t. I helped Duane Ludwig lose 42 pounds in 13 days to fight Jim Miller on short notice here in Las Vegas. He went from 198 to 156 in 13 days with my coaching. It took eight weeks to do the same with Quinton.
Now it was so much easier with Duane because Duane is a professional; he’s a good guy with a big heart. He just got down to the business of working with no complaints, no objections, no obstacles. Some of these other guys, Rampage being one of them, everything was a challenge. He’s shown that not just with myself but with every business deal he’s ever been in.
On what made Jackson such a “challenging” client before his 2010 fight against Rashad Evans:
He had taken 14 months off to film “The A-Team” and “The Ultimate Fighter.” He came into camp 51 pounds overweight before the fight — seven weeks and six days before the fight.
We weren’t behind schedule, but we weren’t ahead of schedule. But I worry. I wasn’t satisfied with it. I talked to Quinton and he said, “I’m not cheating. I’m not doing anything wrong.”
A day does by and we go to train. It’s a three-story house and Quinton lives on the top floor. He forgets his gym bag, so I say I’ll go up there and get his gym bag. I go up and look and I see something that doesn’t look right inside his pillow — a purple box, or a square. I say, “What the hell is that?” I walk over and see it’s a candy bar, a Cadbury fruit and nut candy bar. There were four of them. Under the bed there were more wrappers. So what he was doing was, we would go and get gas before the gym. We’d sit in the car and fill it up. He’d go in to pay for the gas and the window would be right there, right below window level was the candy rack. He’d buy a bunch of these candy bars and put them in his pocket and go home and eat them.
I caught it and he turned it into a joke. So I say, “What we’re going to do is compromise: You’ve got a chocolate thing. I get it. I understand it. Therefore, I’ve got a healthy alternative to it.” In that area in England, the healthiest thing I could find was Nutella, which is really not that bad considering the alternative. It’s a mental thing, not a physical thing, so I start making him Nutella sandwiches, telling him, “It’s the best thing in the world — toasted, warm, crunchy and with banana slices. It’s delicious. That’s what we’ll have if you train your (butt) off. You’ll get those as a reward system.” We started to do that and the weight dropped immediately.
On his approach for Daniel Cormier:
What we’re doing with Daniel is just getting him healthy. My job is to get him down to 10 percent body fat with as much muscle mass as we can pack on his body. Once he’s there, we can decide whatever weight class he wants to go to. My job is to keep him healthy, fit, teach him how to eat and take care of himself. Whether he fights at 205 or not, I mean we could do it this Friday. That’s just what I do. I’ve gotten phone calls where guys are 30 pounds overweight a few days beforehand and we can do it. So we could do 205 or we could stay at heavyweight and go out and destroy everyone at that weight, too. It’s up to Daniel. I’m just happy to be involved because he’s a stud.
(Alas, it appears that the joyous age of ice cream cake and tomato cans has come and gone.)
Since entering the UFC almost a year ago to the day and bringing with him an unprecedented amount of hype (and one hefty price tag to boot), former Bellator middleweight kingpin Hector Lombard has been through some pretty tough times. After seeing his 25-fight win streak snapped via boredom in his UFC debut, Lombard scored a rebound TKO victory over Rousimar Palhares before succumbing to the patented grapplefuckery of Yushin Okami at UFC on FUEL 8.
And although Dana White is not ready to label Lombard a bust just yet — and rightfully so, for Okami can and has grapplefucked the best of ’em — it’s become quite apparent that Lombard isn’t quite the eater of worlds that he was made out to be in Bellator. Then again, when you’re paired up against guys like Trevor Prangley and “Whisper” Goodman, it’s hard not to build such a reputation. In either case, it appears that Lombard has realized that at just 5’8″, perhaps the middleweight division isn’t where he belongs anymore.
(Alas, it appears that the joyous age of ice cream cake and tomato cans has come and gone.)
Since entering the UFC almost a year ago to the day and bringing with him an unprecedented amount of hype (and one hefty price tag to boot), former Bellator middleweight kingpin Hector Lombard has been through some pretty tough times. After seeing his 25-fight win streak snapped via boredom in his UFC debut, Lombard scored a rebound TKO victory over Rousimar Palhares before succumbing to the patented grapplefuckery of Yushin Okami at UFC on FUEL 8.
And although Dana White is not ready to label Lombard a bust just yet — and rightfully so, for Okami can and has grapplefucked the best of ‘em — it’s become quite apparent that Lombard isn’t quite the eater of worlds that he was made out to be in Bellator. Then again, when you’re paired up against guys like Trevor Prangley and “Whisper” Goodman, it’s hard not to build such a reputation. In either case, it appears that Lombard has realized that at just 5’8″, perhaps the middleweight division isn’t where he belongs anymore.
That being the case, Lombard told UFC Tonight yesterday that he plans on working with renowned dietician Mike Dolce in an attempt to make the cut to 170 lbs following his upcoming nose surgery. Ariel Helwani broke the news:
I spoke to Lombard today and he’s about to work with Mike (Dolce) because he wants to get leaner. He walks around at 205 and he feels that at his height, it’s not really at his best interest to be fighting at 185. He knows the UFC wants him to go down … First thing’s first, he needs to have nose surgery. He broke his nose fighting Yushin Okami so the surgery is coming up next for him — hopefully next week. After that, he’s going to focus on that cut down to 170.
“They said they’d stand in front of me so we could exchange blind haymakers, and that we’d go to Arby’s after the fight…but then they started wrestling me, and they all went to Subway afterwards and didn’t even invite me!” *sobs*
Today is a new day, which means Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson has new shit to complain about. You know the drill by now: The guy who made over $15 million in eleven UFC fights feels he isn’t being treated fairly, and needs the entire world to know how difficult it is to be Rampage. I guess I’d be mad too if my shoes were so ugly, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying to hear him constantly play the victim.
Last week, Rampage decided to vent about the unfair treatment he received from Mike Dolce. Yep, the same Mike Dolce who hasn’t even worked with Jackson in over two years. The same Mike Dolce who helped Rampage cut 45 pounds in only eight weeks, saving Rampage the embarrassment of being overweight for his fight against Rashad Evans. That Mike Dolce.
“They said they’d stand in front of me so we could exchange blind haymakers, and that we’d go to Arby’s after the fight…but then they started wrestling me, and they all went to Subway afterwards and didn’t even invite me!” *sobs*
Today is a new day, which means Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson has new shit to complain about. You know the drill by now: The guy who made over $15 million in eleven UFC fights feels he isn’t being treated fairly, and needs the entire world to know how difficult it is to be Rampage. I guess I’d be mad too if my shoes were so ugly, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying to hear him constantly play the victim.
Last week, Rampage decided to vent about the unfair treatment he received from Mike Dolce. Yep, the same Mike Dolce who hasn’t even worked with Jackson in over two years. The same Mike Dolce who helped Rampage cut 45 pounds in only eight weeks, saving Rampage the embarrassment of being overweight for his fight against Rashad Evans. That Mike Dolce.
Dolce addressed Rampage’s comments about him over at BloodyElbow, and his version of the events plays out exactly as you’re assuming it does: Rampage feels he is the victim because Mike made him eat vegetables and didn’t want him to be such a fatass. You know, he was doing that thing that Rampage hired him to do. Clearly, Jackson’s tendencies to balloon up to 250+ pounds in between fights and not even try to take his career seriously are not at all to blame here, because that would imply that Rampage isn’t so much “the victim” as he is a whiner with a persecution complex.
I’d offer more insight here, but frankly, UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones said all that needs to be said about Rampage in general on Wednesday’s edition of The Opie & Anthony Show, alongside fellow TUF coach Chael Sonnen:
If you’re only interested in Jones’ comments on Rampage, skip to the 5:05 mark, but know that you’re missing one hell of a segment.
“He’s a wuss. He has this tough guy persona, but he complains about anything that doesn’t go in his favor. ‘Oh, my contract. Oh, he wants to take me down, that’s not real fighting.’ He is such a baby,” said Jones. Something tells me that even the most stubborn Bones haters are nodding their heads in agreement right now.
Though he first landed on our radars as a competitor on TUF 7, fighter/trainer Mike Dolce has become much more famous for The Dolce Diet — the health and nutrition system he employs to help MMA stars hit their weight limits while retaining peak performance on fight-day. Fresh off his wizard-like guidance of Thiago Alves earlier this month, we decided to get the Living Lean author on the phone to find out exactly how he does it. Enjoy…
JONATHAN SHRAGER: Hi Mike, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. You are arguably the most renowned nutritionist in MMA nowadays.
MIKE DOLCE: Well, thank you. I prefer “performance coach” actually, but people often refer to me as a nutritionist because I’ve become synonymous with The Dolce Diet, so I understand why. I do quite a bit, including nutrition and Strength & Conditioning.
So who is the current crop of fighters that you’re working with? Thiago Alves, of course, with whom I travelled to England. Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Jake Ellenberger, Jay Hieron, Mike Pyle, and I started working with Jorge Masvidal in advance of his Strikeforce lightweight title fight with Gilbert Melendez. Jorge is a great guy and a super-talented athlete.
I recently interviewed Jorge, and he confessed his love of junk food including McDonald’s. Have you ever caught him attempting to eat any junk food behind your back? Is his love for McDonald’s difficult to contain?
Haha! No, Jorge is very committed to performing at the top of his potential. He is so dedicated to his craft, there is nothing to pull him off course. But he did admit his love of McDonald’s to me and we agreed that would be his victory celebration.
Post-fight, do you allow your fighters a little leeway to have a week off and eat what they want? Do you yourself ever celebrate with the fighters by eating some greasy or sugary foods?
Yes, I employ a principle of earned meals, a concept established to allow athletes or individuals to enjoy a meal that may not be consistent with their goals. For my athletes, I usually give them until Wednesday after the fight to ignore my phone calls before we start dialing their lifestyle back in. The great thing about guys or girls who follow The Dolce Diet, is that they lose the old cravings for junk and instead just look for larger portions of what we’ve been eating all camp. After a fight, I’ll usually indulge in a burger or slice of pizza with the team, but that’s usually because we don’t leave the venue until after midnight and our options are limited.
Following his fight with Frank Mir, Dana White suggested that Roy Nelson should try to make 205 lbs in an attempt to rejuvenate himself and his career. Roy subsequently claimed that this would require him to lose a limb, but now he says he’ll try to do it if he gets enough Facebook fans. Would you be the man to help Roy shed the belly?
(Vitor’s shorts say “Jesus,” but his abs say “Nutella and banana on rye.”)
Though he first landed on our radars as a competitor on TUF 7, fighter/trainer Mike Dolce has become much more famous for The Dolce Diet — the health and nutrition system he employs to help MMA stars hit their weight limits while retaining peak performance on fight-day. Fresh off his wizard-like guidance of Thiago Alves earlier this month, we decided to get the Living Lean author on the phone to find out exactly how he does it. Enjoy…
JONATHAN SHRAGER: Hi Mike, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. You are arguably the most renowned nutritionist in MMA nowadays.
MIKE DOLCE: Well, thank you. I prefer “performance coach” actually, but people often refer to me as a nutritionist because I’ve become synonymous with The Dolce Diet, so I understand why. I do quite a bit, including nutrition and Strength & Conditioning.
I recently interviewed Jorge, and he confessed his love of junk food including McDonald’s. Have you ever caught him attempting to eat any junk food behind your back? Is his love for McDonald’s difficult to contain?
Haha! No, Jorge is very committed to performing at the top of his potential. He is so dedicated to his craft, there is nothing to pull him off course. But he did admit his love of McDonald’s to me and we agreed that would be his victory celebration.
Post-fight, do you allow your fighters a little leeway to have a week off and eat what they want? Do you yourself ever celebrate with the fighters by eating some greasy or sugary foods?
Yes, I employ a principle of earned meals, a concept established to allow athletes or individuals to enjoy a meal that may not be consistent with their goals. For my athletes, I usually give them until Wednesday after the fight to ignore my phone calls before we start dialing their lifestyle back in. The great thing about guys or girls who follow The Dolce Diet, is that they lose the old cravings for junk and instead just look for larger portions of what we’ve been eating all camp. After a fight, I’ll usually indulge in a burger or slice of pizza with the team, but that’s usually because we don’t leave the venue until after midnight and our options are limited.
Following his fight with Frank Mir, Dana White suggested that Roy Nelson should try to make 205 lbs in an attempt to rejuvenate himself and his career. Roy subsequently claimed that this would require him to lose a limb, but now he says he’ll try to do it if he gets enough Facebook fans. Would you be the man to help Roy shed the belly? Well, I don’t want to use Roy’s name specifically, but when I worked with Rampage, he began his training camp at 255 pounds, and he made 205 pretty easily. Quinton is shorter than Roy, and Roy, at his heaviest, weighs 260 pounds. So, if Rampage can achieve it, and he probably has more muscle, then I think it’s safe to predict that Roy could make 205.
And do you think that 205 would prove to be Roy’s optimal fighting weight? I think that Roy looked great in his fight at heavyweight against Cro Cop. With that being said, I think he’s fine at heavyweight. What makes a guy like Roy so special is that he could fight in two different weight classes. If he doesn’t have to lose the weight then why should he? I’m a health advocate more than a performance coach, so being healthy is the most important thing.
After working with Quinton Jackson prior to the Rashad and Machida fights, you weren’t part of his coaching staff in the build up to Jon Jones. Are you and Quinton on good terms? The schedule has really become a problem. I don’t leave guys that retain my services for somebody that may have a higher profile. I was booked before Quinton’s fight with Jonny Bones, and Quinton understands. He and I had a great conversation in which he told me that he knew this issue might arise because of my talent in the area of health, nutrition, and fitness. It’s not a bad problem to face, but unfortunately I’m not able to work with everybody for every camp. I have been booked solid for up to four months but I prefer not to commit to anything too much further in advance.
How does your role work logistically if you collaborate with multiple fighters? Do you focus solely on one fighter at a time during their training camps? I do work with one athlete specifically, and then I’ll work with a couple athletes as close as I can. I was living with Thiago prior to his fight in the UK against Papy Abedi, but also Jake Ellenberger, Chael Sonnen, and Gray Maynard all fought during that timeframe. So, I would leave for their weight-cuts and the weigh-ins, to be present for the fighters at the last hurdle. But throughout the entire process I would consult with the fighters on multiple occasions every single day. Fighters text me their weight upon waking up, and how they’re feeling during the day, so it’s a hands-on process. I work with ten athletes consistently, but the one who books me first is the one I’ll physically be with throughout the training camp.
Is weigh-in day even more stressful for you than fight night? For me it is. My job focuses on the health and peak performance of my athlete. The scale inevitably stands in the way of that main objective. We must fulfill the contractual obligation to weigh in at a predetermined weight — usually much lighter than the athlete normally walks around at — without doing any harm to their body, which would adversely affect performance. Once we get by the scale, everything else is a breeze.
What’s the most drastic cut that you’ve had to help a fighter achieve?
I helped Duane “BANG” Ludwig lose over 40 pounds in less than two weeks to take a short-notice fight against Jim Miller in January 2010. What made that cut even harder is that Duane fought in early December, went on vacation with his family and fully embraced the typical holiday menu. But, Duane is such a strong individual, it is doubtful any other athlete could have done that. I have had other guys lose nearly 60 pounds in less than eight weeks. Of course, health is always the most important factor and we strive to accomplish such goals in the healthiest manner possible.
I saw Mike Pyle eating a Nutella and banana sandwich on rye bread during one of his blogs, as recommended by “The Dolce Diet.” Are there any other foods which you recommend that people may be surprised by? Most people are actually shocked when they read my book, The Dolce Diet: Living Lean, because of all the recipes it contains that I use with my athletes. We have pasta, pancakes, omelets, fried chicken, and many other delicious meals. The difference lays in my selection of ingredients and the preparation techniques that turn garbage into gold. Anyone can eat boiled chicken breasts and steamed broccoli but my approach is to embrace the natural flavor of whole foods, which is why guys like Belfort, Alves, Rampage, Maynard, Ellenberger and many more of the sport’s elite chose to work with me. I add enjoyment to an otherwise Spartan existence.
Would you relish the challenge of working with fighters who are notorious for missing weight such as Paul Daley?
I don’t necessarily relish the challenge of “who can drop the most weight,” but instead embrace the duty to help these guys achieve their goals while maintaining a vibrant state of health. I am first and foremost a longevity advocate and my number one priority is to keep these guys healthy. In my view, the healthier an athlete is, the better the athlete will be able to perform. This is why I employ a whole-foods method combined with intelligent periodization and restorative methods to produce world-class performances. This, I believe, is the future of peak performance.
You work with a lot of Brazilian fighters, and Chael Sonnen. What are your Brazilian clients’ opinions on Chael and his recent remarks about their country? Is Chael as funny behind the scenes when you are working with him on a daily basis as he appears to be on camera? Chael is a polarizing character, but most of the people I talk to love what he is doing for the sport. He creates excitement outside of the cage and certainly backs it up when he steps inside. Of course, some people don’t like a few of the things he says, but the general consensus is that he is hilarious. In my own experiences with him, Chael has a great sense of humor, a warm heart, and actually, a brilliant mind. I would put him on stage with Howard Stern, John Stewart, and Bill Maher, and have full confidence that Chael would talk circles around those guys.
Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsWhen former UFC light heavyweight contender Keith Jardine first started telling people that he wanted to drop to middleweight, the response was, shall we say, not terribly enthusiastic. He got polite nods from reporters an…
When former UFC light heavyweight contender Keith Jardine first started telling people that he wanted to drop to middleweight, the response was, shall we say, not terribly enthusiastic. He got polite nods from reporters and raised eyebrows from fans and fellow fighters. One prominent trainer who had worked with him in the past even asked me privately, “How? Is he going to cut off a leg?”
And yet, at Friday’s Strikeforce weigh-ins he stepped on the scale weighing 185 pounds on the dot for his title fight against Luke Rockhold on Saturday night. Like many fighters these days, he has nutritionist Mike Dolce to thank for it.
Dolce first met Jardine in 2009 when he was helping Quinton “Rampage” Jackson prepare to fight him at UFC 96. Though they were in opposing corners then, Dolce said, “I was impressed with his professionalism leading up to the fight and the way he conducted himself as a person.” So when Dolce saw that Jardine had quietly purchased his first “Dolce Diet” book — Three Weeks to Shredded — online, he reached out to the fighter to find out what he was hoping to accomplish.
“We spoke briefly that day and he mentioned a possible drop to middleweight at some point in his career,” Dolce said. “A few weeks later he called me after hearing a radio interview I had done and said he went and did his research on me and was very impressed with my lifestyle approach to health, as well as the success of my athletes. We spoke for a few hours that night and here we are today.”
When they first began the cut, Dolce said, the 36-year-old Jardine was 217 pounds “but made the statement the he was very lean and lethargic.” With 32 pounds still standing between him and the middleweight limit, that wasn’t a good sign, according to Dolce.
“You look at a weight cut that’s 30 pounds or more and yes, that’s drastic, but Keith was doing what a lot of athletes are doing: taking supplements and eating like a bodybuilder. No disrespect to those industries, but that’s not what I do.”
Instead, Dolce said, he got Jardine on a diet of “earth-grown nutrients” to maximize lean muscle and drop body fat. For most of his training camp for the Rockhold fight, Dolce said, Jardine was “walking around at 211 [pounds]…and in single-digit body fat levels.”
After that, he said, making the weight was only a matter of “temporarily drying out those muscles” before the weigh-in, thus allowing Jardine to step into the cage on fight night back at what Dolce refers to as “the sweet weight” — roughly the same weight he was maintaining three weeks before the fight. Thanks to his knowledge and Jardine’s discipline and training, Dolce said, “the weight-cut was an easy process for us.”
Doing all that with a fighter in his mid-30s who, by his own admission, hasn’t been down to this weight “since my freshman year of high school” might seem risky, but Dolce insisted that it’s a focus on health first that makes it possible.
“I know 25-year-old athletes who have the bodies of 45-year-olds,” Dolce said. “I make sure my athletes work closely with their doctors, get regular bloodwork, and are 100 percent healthy every second of every day. Like I said, I’m a longevity advocate. My goal is for my clients to live well past 100 years old. It’s nice if they make a few million dollars between their 20s and 30s, but my true objective is for them to show their great-great-grandkids pictures of their world title belts, rather than doing whatever is perceived necessary to win one.”
Jardine will get his chance to take home a strap on Saturday night. By clocking in at 185 pounds he’s already accomplished one feat that few people thought he was capable of. Now comes the other, slightly harder part.
Thiago Alves’ nutritionist knows how it must look for his fighter to come in a pound over on his first trip to the scale at the UFC 138 weigh-ins, but he still wishes people would give the UFC welterweight the benefit of the doubt just this once.
As n…
Thiago Alves‘ nutritionist knows how it must look for his fighter to come in a pound over on his first trip to the scale at the UFC 138 weigh-ins, but he still wishes people would give the UFC welterweight the benefit of the doubt just this once.
As nutritionist Mike Dolce told MMA Fighting from England on Friday afternoon, Alves had no trouble making the 171-pound limit on his second try, and would have made it the first time except for a calibration issue.
“We had four different scales,” Dolce said. “Every scale had him between [1]69 [pounds] and [1]71 [pounds]. We were happy. It was an easy weight cut, he felt fine, high energy, bouncing around. We got to the weigh-ins and he was [1]72.3 [pounds] with his shorts on. He took off his shorts and he was [1]72 [pounds] on the dot. We were shocked, but hey, no problem. We walked off the scale, we went backstage, there was a sauna there, he sat in the sauna for a few minutes, then he took a pee, then we went back out and made 171 [pounds]. It was literally that simple.”
What’s not so simple, according to Dolce, was dealing with the public backlash that he saw on Twitter once news got out that Alves was over. Though Alves made weight “maybe 40 minutes later,” according to Dolce, by then the story of his initial miss was out and MMA fans seemed to have made up their minds about him.
“And that sucks, because I see how hard this kid’s working,” said Dolce. “He understands that he has to work his way back up the ladder, and he’s doing everything correctly in his personal, emotional, professional, and financial life to make sure he makes a statement and makes a run in the welterweight division. Having something silly like this, to see everyone jump on him, you know, I understand why since he’s had trouble in the past, but come on, the kid came back a half-hour later and made weight with a smile.”
Granted, before Alves hired Dolce as a nutritionist, the Brazilian had a bad habit of coming in over the limit. He came in three pounds heavy for his fight with Matt Hughes at UFC 85, and he clocked in at 171.5 for his rematch with Jon Fitch at UFC 117 — a minor miss that cost him 20% of his fight purse.
Now it seems that fans are so used to Alves missing weight that Friday’s miscue only confirmed what they already believed about him, even though, Dolce said, they weren’t the only ones surprised by the numbers on the scale.
“There was five guys who got to the weigh-ins and stepped on the scale and were overweight and were shocked also. They had to jump in the back and start trying to cut weight on their own. …It’s always our responsibility as professionals to be on weight regardless of the circumstance. But when there’s this many guys this far off, something’s wrong. It’s not just us.”
While several foreign fighters have commented publicly on the difficulty of getting their normal dietary needs met while cutting weight in the U.K., Dolce said he brought “a suitcase full of food” for Alves — about $400 worth for just a few days, in his estimation. Customs restrictions make it impossible to bring fruits or vegetables in to the country, he said, but the team was well prepared and Alves had “an awesome weight cut.”
“He looks great, not sucked down, no dark circles under his eyes,” Dolce said. “It wasn’t a matter of, can he make weight? It was that we stepped on four different scales and I would have to say that our scale is wrong, because the UFC is the official.”
When former 