How to Cut Weight for a Fight

I cut to 185 for years in the UFC. I did it right and I did it wrong, and the wrong way cost me in the cage every time. Here is the version that let me make weight and still have a gas tank the next night.

The whole idea is simple. Lose the fat slowly over camp, lose a small amount of water in the last few days, and put it all back before you fight. Everything that goes wrong in a weight cut comes from trying to do the last part in the first part's place.

Step one: pick a weight class you can actually make

Most bad cuts are a bad weight class decision made months earlier. A good rule is that your walk around weight, the weight you sit at when you're eating well and training hard, should be no more than about eight to ten percent above your class. A 185 pounder should be walking around at 200 to 205, not 225. If you're way above that, you either need a longer camp or the next class up.

Step two: the diet phase, six to eight weeks out

This is where most of the weight should come off, and it should be fat. Aim for one to two pounds a week. Faster than that and you start losing muscle and your training suffers.

Keep protein high, about one gram per pound of your goal weight. Keep carbs around your training so you can still go hard. Cut the junk, the sauces, the drinks, and the late night snacks first, because that's where the easy weight is. Weigh yourself every morning and write it down, so you know you're on track instead of guessing.

What I take during camp

Camp is when supplements earn their keep, because you're training more and eating less than any other time of the year.

Level-1 ProteinHitting a gram per pound of protein while cutting calories is hard with food alone. One or two shakes a day makes it easy and keeps you full.

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Micro FactorWhen calories go down, vitamins and minerals go down with them. This keeps your foundation covered through a hard camp.

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Phormula-1Fast protein right after every session. With two a days, recovery between sessions is what wins camp.

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Opti-Greens 50Keeps digestion working and covers the vegetables when your meals shrink.

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Step three: the water phase, the last five days

This is the part people get hurt on, so read it twice. The water cut is for the last few pounds only. If you're more than about five percent of your bodyweight above the limit on fight week, your diet phase failed and you need to make that up with food, not water.

The safe version looks like this. Starting about five days out, drink a lot of water, more than normal, so your body gets used to flushing it. Pull your salt down and your carbs down over the same days, because both hold water. Then over the last day or two you reduce water intake and let the body keep flushing. Sweat out the final pounds with light movement, a hot bath, or a sauna, in short rounds with rest between them, never alone, and never to the point of dizziness or cramping.

Do not use diuretic pills. Do not sit in a sauna for an hour. Do not cut water for days. Fighters have died doing this. If you have a coach or a nutritionist who has done this before, they run your water cut, not a video you watched.

Step four: rehydrate like it's your job

You have roughly 24 to 30 hours between the scale and the walk out. What you put back is what you fight with. Start sipping right off the scale with electrolytes and water, small amounts constantly rather than chugging. Then eat real food: rice, potatoes, fruit, lean protein, salt. Keep eating and drinking until you go to bed and start again when you wake up.

Hydration SportElectrolytes with carbs. This is what I sip the second I step off the scale and all the way through rehydration.

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IgnitionFast carbs that refill your muscles after the cut. Taking it with Phormula-1 after weigh ins helps you feel like yourself again by morning.

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MagnesiumCramping on fight night usually means low magnesium and electrolytes. I take it during rehydration and the night before.

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How much is safe to cut?

Here is my honest number. Fat loss during camp, as much as you need as long as it's one to two pounds a week. Water in fight week, no more than about five percent of your bodyweight, and less is better. A 190 pounder cutting to 185 is a good cut. A 205 pounder cutting to 185 in a week is how you end up pulled from a card, or worse.

The fighters who have long careers are the ones who stopped trying to be the biggest guy in the division and started being the healthiest one on fight night.

I'm a former professional fighter sharing what worked for me. Every weight cut should be supervised by a coach or medical professional who knows you. If you feel faint, confused, or your heart races during a cut, stop and get help.