UFC fighters may have the best physiques in all of sports. Granted, we are typically talking about phenomenal athletes who train 4-6 hours per day in a highly competitive sport and have to watch their diets to stay in a weight class, so maybe it’s not a big surprise. As someone who doesn’t look like a UFC fighter, I’ve always been curious about what these UFC fighters are eating. After doing some research, here are excerpts from different articles showing what some of the best of the best in the UFC eat.
1. Cody Garbrandt, former UFC bantamweight champion and current #1 contender
A normal day for me is breakfast, lunch, and dinner with either a smoothie or a bar in-between my training sessions to give me a little bit of energy until my next meal.
How many training sessions are we talking here?
Three. So I usually wake up and have eggs, turkey bacon, some toast, and maybe throw some oatmeal in there. I’ll usually have coffee with MCT oil too and then I go off to the gym to get my first session in. After that first session I come home and usually within an hour window I’ll have something like salmon, tilapia, or chicken. Those six to eight ounces of protein. I’ll do a carb with some brown rice. Some zucchini. Broccoli, asparagus, all that stuff. And of course I’m drinking my water. Over a gallon of water a day. Then I’ll take a couple hours off, do my next training session, go to the chiropractor or whatever.
Do you have a ritual meal for the night before a fight?
Of course. What we eat today, we use tomorrow. So after the weigh-ins I do my rehydration and then I do a dinner of salmon, spinach, and sweet potatoes. Sushi, too. Some rice, some carbs. Some sodium to help hold your food in. I’ve been eating that since probably my second pro fight.
2. Georges St-Pierre, former three-time welterweight champion and former middleweight champion. Considered to be in the running for the greatest UFC fighter ever
– 1 lower carb anytime meal to be eaten whenever you like: 650 calories – 60g protein, 40g carbs, 30g fat
– 1 lower carb anytime meal to be eaten whenever you like: 650 calories – 60g protein, 40g carbs, 30g fat
– 1 high-carb post-exercise meal to be eaten immediately after training (a recipe that can be eaten cold): 700 calories – 60g protein, 100g carbs, 10g fat
2 Daily Super Shakes
GSP made sure to drink shakes every day, to get sufficient protein between meals. Here is his plan:
1 super shake at a time, between meals, mixed with almond milk or water. This was used to wash down 4 fish oil capsules
– 1 scoop milk-based protein powder
– 1 scoop greens supplement
– 1 cup frozen mixed berries (use “mixed” to avoid developing food intolerances from eating too much of a single variety) 282 calories – 18g protein, 25g carbs, 12g fat
…Approximate Total Baseline Intake: 3104 calories – 256g protein (30%), 315 carbs (40%), 99g fat (30%)
Foods mentioned include apricots, asparagus, broccoli, dijon mustard, eggs, edamame beans, honey, lentils, prunes, red cabbage, red onion, steak, tuna, quail eggs, quinoa.
3. Dustin Poirier, #4 ranked lightweight
MEAL PLAN
Breakfast/Snack
- 2.5 fl. oz low-fat, plain kefir
- 0.5 oz (medium) banana
- 1/2 tbsp peanut butter
- 1.5 oz oatmeal
Totals: 119 calories, 18g protein, 63g carbs
Lunch
- 21.4 oz water
- 2.5 oz ground turkey breast – no skin
- 4.5 eggs – egg whites
- 2.5 cups spinach
- 9.5 oz pineapple (9.5 oz)
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
Totals: 475, 42g protein, 27g carbs
Snack 2
- 21 oz water
- 2.5 oz low-fat, plain Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup grapes
- 3 Brazil nuts
Totals: 119 calories, 9g protein, 13g carbs
Dinner
- 21 oz water
- 5.5 oz tilapia
- 1/2 medium lemon
- 2.5 cups collard greens
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
Totals: 475 calories, 38g protein, 17g carbs
Snack 3
- 21 oz water
- 2.5 oz low-fat Greek yogurt
- 1 cup blueberries
- 2.5 oz strawberries
- 3 Brazil nuts
Totals: 119 calories, 10g protein, 31g carbs
Snack 4
- 21 oz water
- 2 fl. oz low-fat, plain kefir
- 1 cup blueberries
- 3 oz raspberries
- 1/2 tbsp flaxseed
Totals: 119 calories, 12g protein, 34g carbs
4. TJ Dillashaw, UFC bantamweight champion
Breakfast
Coffee with honey, turmeric, coconut water
A snack bar
Snacks throughout the day
Hard-boiled egg
Trail Mix
“Just trying to eat light but snack throughout the day to get my metabolism going,” he said.
Lunch
Tuna salad wrap from Whole Foods.
On non-fight weeks:
Breakfast
Oatmeal or eggs and toast
Lunch
Sandwich — his favorite is turkey with cranberry
Snacks
Smoothies, trail mix, fruits, bananas, elk jerky
Dinner
Elk meat. “I’m a big hunter so I harvest all my own meat that I live off of. I got a big elk this last year that will probably last me for the next two years for me and my wife.”