"Based upon my body of work and my resume, I know for a fact I can get Cris down to 135, which I believe is her true weight class. She would be in her best ever shape and condition...135 would have been easy...Daniel Cormier and I are friends and we have had multiple conversations and don't be surprised in the future, after he goes out there and beats up Roy Nelson, that you would see our names in the headlines again pretty soon," stated nutrition and diet guru Mike Dolce, who shared his thoughts on the possibility of helping Daniel Cormier and Cris Cyborg cut weight to make possibly the biggest fights in MMA against current UFC champions Jon Jones and Ronda Rousey. Check out what else he had to say!
PC: One of the things I like about what I hear about the Dolce Diet is that, in an era of enormous weight cutting, you don't seem to have guys cutting large amounts of weight.
MD: I am a longevity advocate more than a performance coach. My goal is for my athletes to be 120 years old with a vibrant state of health. In order to achieve that, we have to start immediately. If we start immediately, that allows them to win UFC world titles and it allows them to compete against the best athletes in the world. But if an athlete is not healthy, they cannot perform at their best, so I focus on health over everything. If my fighter is healthy then the weight cut is going to be easy and the fight will be even easier. That's the way we approach it.
PC: Your name has been mentioned with two big names in the sport of MMA who are or were considered competing at weights that they are not accustomed to and that's Cris Cyborg and Daniel Cormier. Starting with Cyborg, how serious did it get for you to get her down to 135 to fight Ronda Rousey?
MD: I did have the Cyborg talk. I actually flew out to Southern California and had lunch with Cris, and the conversation was very serious and she was on board and then she changed her management. Her previous management was awesome and very professional, but when she switched her management, that's when everything went sideways and turned into a reality show drama, which I don't have time for, so I moved on. I am so busy with superstars in the sport. I was being very generous with my time to even take the meeting and go out there. I was very disappointed with the management team; and no reflection on Cris because she is a great person.
PC: How about Daniel Cormier? Was their preliminary talks to get him down to 205 for a possible fight against Jon Jones?
MD: Daniel Cormier and I are friends and we have had multiple conversations and don't be surprised in the future, after he goes out there and beats up Roy Nelson, that you would see our names in the headlines again pretty soon.
PC: When talking about both athletes, Cormier and Cyborg, were those realistic cuts to where you think they can make 205 and 135 respectively?
MD: Based upon my body of work and my resume, I know for a fact I can get Cris down to 135, which I believe is her true weight class. She would be in her best ever shape and condition. Based upon the flaws that she has in her training, because she detailed her training to me and her training was just horrid; she was extremely overtrained, extremely undernourished, and taking way too many bodybuilding type of supplements that are putting too many non-functional muscles on her body. 135 would have been easy.
Daniel Cormier, remember, had serious dehydration issues when he was making weight for the Olympics and I believe that was to make 202 pounds. He was banned from competing in that Olympics and he was already over there and he had such a bad weight cut that he was banned and they wouldn't allow him to compete because of that weight cut. I was speaking to Daniel and we went over that entire situation and again I saw the flaws in their methods. According to his training now and what his body weight is right now, we make the adjustments that I know that I have in my arsenal and I think 205 will be easy for Daniel to where I don't know anybody in the world that would be able to stand up to him and compete against him in thy weight class.
PC: I wish you continued success with your program. You obviously have a helluva system and I look forward to seeing all of your athletes compete. Is there anything else that you want to add or at least let people know where they can find out more about The Dolce Diet?
MD: Always check out www.thedolcediet.com, which is the portal to everything we have. There is all sorts of books and products that can help you if you can't hire me. And also UFC Fit is coming out, so check out www.ufcfit.com; it's a program that I made the guidelines for and I built the science and then peaking and nutritional program. It's an-at home training session with DVDs and the whole deal. Other than that, I want to thank you Percy for having me on and just the fans. I'm probably one of the biggest fans out there and I'm just blessed to make a living inside of this sport and I love the athletes and everybody involved.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]