Mike Dolce had plenty to say during his interview with BJPENN.COM Radio last Wednesday, March 13, ranging from his thoughts on Johnny Hendricks’ preparation for his upcoming bout with Carlos Condit to his dealings with Cris “Cyborg” Santos and even his belief that Chael Sonnen will “beat the piss out of Jon Jones” in their upcoming UFC Light heavyweight title clash on April 27th.
But perhaps the most intriguing portion of the interview came when Dolce was asked about what has made him famous in the world of mixed martial arts: his system, aptly dubbed “The Dolce Diet”.
A former fighter himself, Dolce takes pride in having been on the receiving end of vicious weight cuts and rigorous training camps due to the fact that it gives him a personal connection with the fighters he works with. It is in that sense that he fancies himself as more than just a dietician.
“Because of ‘The Dolce Diet’ brand, our registered trademark brand and it’s our book series, and the black & gold t-shirt I wear, people think it’s all diet and it’s all about nutrition. It is part of what I do, but I think it’s a small part of what I do. I’m a longevity advocate before anything else; I’m a coach, a performance coach, a lifestyle coach” Dolce said of his popular methodology that has taken on a strong following in MMA circles. “I help the athletes-any individual I help them get their mind right, I say we get all their houses in order; their mental, their physical, their emotional houses in order, which really becomes very necessary as you get closer to a world-class performance scenario.”
Dolce further stresses that he works closely with the teams & families of his athletes to cultivate the most efficient lifestyle in order to fulfill the athlete’s potential. Whether blockages include poor diet, mental and environmental stress or anything in-between, Dolce is intent on making sure that the needs of his fighters are met, even if they’re out of the ordinary.
“I kind of joke sometimes; if the athlete needs me scalping tickets in the parking lot the night of their fight while everyone’s inside watching them compete, well that’s what I’m doing. Whatever the athlete needs, I’m going to be- ’m the guy that’s going to get it done for them, and that allows the athlete to compete at their best and be healthy and kind of, you know, move on their life.”
Having previously worked with the likes of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson during his preparation for bouts with Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida, both of which saw him start camp immensely overweight, Dolce has a proven track record. He now works with the likes of not only Hendricks, but Chael Sonnen and Thiago Alves as well.
In addition, Dolce has been working with Vitor Belfort, who most recently looked sensational in his knockout victory over Michael Bisping. Initially, he says, the process of cutting weight was not an easy one for “The Phenom”.
“When I first took over Vitor, it was very difficult for him to make middleweight, 185. And in time, you know, we fast-forward to what we did in Brazil [for his fight with Bisping] Vitor only cut four pounds. The weigh-in day in Brazil, everybody was commenting on just how amazing his physique looked. Well, it’s because he had been living properly for two years and, you know, they make statements-very uneducated statements- about how he was able to look like that, and this drastic difference. It was two years of work that culminated in that body and that performance. It’s nothing store bought, it’s nothing that you can just go out and pick up, you have to work hard, you have to live the right lifestyle.”
That lifestyle is predicated on principles, as Dolce puts it, that help individuals nourish their bodies properly based on intake of earth-grown nutrients every two-to-four hours. In doing so, blood sugar remains stable and metabolism is continuously moving. However, food intake is based on satisfaction and eating until your body feels good and not until you’re full, which only serves to put a “bottleneck” in your digestive system.
“Think about driving down the highway, and if you have to keep stopping at these bottlenecks and intersections, it takes so long to get where you’re going. Now if the streets are wide open, you can drive even slower and get to where you’re going much faster, much more efficiently. These are some of the general, universal principles, and really it’s that easy. And people say because I have all this success with these elite athletes that there must be something crazy scientific. The craziest thing I can say is: it’s common sense.”
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