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"I’ve shadowed McGregor’s nutritionist, George Lockhart, on a number of occasions, and I’m privileged to be writing a book on weight cutting with him. I’m going to break down in general terms how a weight cut is performed, and why McGregor being 164 lbs today—if that is his actual weight—is no problem.
The first thing to understand is that the “cut” portion of a fighter’s weight cut likely won’t even really begin until Wednesday. On Tuesday, the fighter will likely still be drinking around 2 gallons of water over the course of the day, which is more than the vast majority of people will drink in a given day.
On Wednesday, the fighter will drink around 1 gallon of water in the morning, and then have drinks of ice cold water when he’s thirsty throughout the rest of the day.
On Thursday, his water intake will be restricted. This means the only water he takes in will be small drinks when thirsty, not no water at all. In the evening the fighter will probably do one final workout to deplete the last of the glycogen from the muscles, and then have a hot bath right before bed.
The fighter should wake up on or close to weigh-in weight on weigh-in day, and any remaining weight will be lost in a hot bath or, if the fighter prefers, a little time in the sauna. With a cut as small as 10 lbs it’s unlikely any weight has to be cut on weigh-in day, though.
Obviously this general breakdown doesn’t cover food or electrolyte intake/restriction, but it breaks down why a fighter being 10 lbs over the contracted weight 3-4 days before weigh-ins isn’t an issue.
For perspective, the average UFC fighter cuts around 8-10% of their body weight the week of the fight, so the average 155 lbs UFC fighter will actually be close to 170 lbs come fight week. If McGregor is 164 lbs, he has a significantly smaller cut ahead of him than most UFC lightweights would.
Rather being being overweight, if McGregor is 164 lbs today, he’s actually at an ideal weight, and the cut won’t be any problem at all for his team."
Seems foolish to me...
The first thing to understand is that the “cut” portion of a fighter’s weight cut likely won’t even really begin until Wednesday. On Tuesday, the fighter will likely still be drinking around 2 gallons of water over the course of the day, which is more than the vast majority of people will drink in a given day.
On Wednesday, the fighter will drink around 1 gallon of water in the morning, and then have drinks of ice cold water when he’s thirsty throughout the rest of the day.
On Thursday, his water intake will be restricted. This means the only water he takes in will be small drinks when thirsty, not no water at all. In the evening the fighter will probably do one final workout to deplete the last of the glycogen from the muscles, and then have a hot bath right before bed.
The fighter should wake up on or close to weigh-in weight on weigh-in day, and any remaining weight will be lost in a hot bath or, if the fighter prefers, a little time in the sauna. With a cut as small as 10 lbs it’s unlikely any weight has to be cut on weigh-in day, though.
Obviously this general breakdown doesn’t cover food or electrolyte intake/restriction, but it breaks down why a fighter being 10 lbs over the contracted weight 3-4 days before weigh-ins isn’t an issue.
For perspective, the average UFC fighter cuts around 8-10% of their body weight the week of the fight, so the average 155 lbs UFC fighter will actually be close to 170 lbs come fight week. If McGregor is 164 lbs, he has a significantly smaller cut ahead of him than most UFC lightweights would.
Rather being being overweight, if McGregor is 164 lbs today, he’s actually at an ideal weight, and the cut won’t be any problem at all for his team."
Seems foolish to me...
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