MMA nutrition guru Mike Dolce works with a number of top fighters, including Johny Hendricks and Ronda Rousey, who swear by his work. Mixed martial arts is art not science – things happen in the sport because they work, not because someone credible says they work.
Mike Dolce’s diet works.
However, he has regularly faced criticism that his plan is nothing but “bro science” without any verifiable basis. The most recent accuser was George Lockhart, who has a diet plan in the MMA space called Fitness VT.
Fitness VT has a $17 per month plan, a $99 per month plan, and for $349, the site explains they will take $99 off the already ridiculously low price and you get your first Weight-Cut addon for $250!
“I’ve never heard Dolce talk about anything that would lead me to believe that he is a guru of weight cutting. I do believe that he can get the average person to lose weight,” said Lockhart condescendingly. “The average person, that’s the kind of guy Dolce would be awesome for; he can talk a good game and get people to follow things.”
Now in an interview with Steph Daniels for BE, Dolce ably defends himself.
“I was completely shocked to read the comments from Mr. Lockhart, considering that he had contacted me on July 30th of 2013, and offered for me to be a partner in his new, fitness-based website that details diet plans for athletes,” said Dolce. “I had subsequent conversations with Mr. Lockhart, discussing the website and a possible working relationship. I declined to move forward, feeling that our philosophies didn’t mesh very well. I wished him the best and I moved on with my life. I was absolutely shocked to see his statements as they were in direct contrast to what he told me via e-mail, texts and phone conversations I received from him.”
Crooklyn is not posting publicly any messages from Lockhart to Dolce, but confirms that the content is as described.
“The Dolce Diet is a Las Vegas corporation that employs a team of registered dietician nutritionists, licensed by the state of Nevada, which is the only legal representative allowed by law to prescribe meal plans,” said Dolce. “If you are not a registered dietitian nutritionist, or if you do not employ a registered dietitian nutritionist, it is illegal for you to prescribe any meal plan. My company meets that threshold and even further, we have members on our team, members that hold master’s degrees in exercise sciences to ensure the blend of nutritional science and exercise physiology. We have world-class, battle-tested, experience-related results. I don’t know of any company, any coach, or any trainer in this industry that has the credentials that myself and my team have.
“It may be hard to find anyone else in our industry that has had as much peer reviewed analysis of their work. As the creator of UFC FIT, I personally wrote the entire 12-week training program as well as the complete nutritional manual. Every word, repetition and recipe was vetted by a massive team of lawyers representing our company’s interests and an opposing team of lawyers from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as well as members of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to ensure public safety and accuracy of our weight-loss claims. My work was proudly accepted and approved by all USA based agencies and has been further accepted and approved by the governing bodies in Australia, Canada, Mexico, Japan and the United Kingdom. To further strengthen the scientific merits of my work, the UFC FIT program has achieved the advanced distinction of being an approved training system by the NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SPORTS MEDICINE (NASM), the global leader in providing advanced certifications for fitness professionals. These are facts, unlike many of the statements I have read lately.”
Read the rest of the interview where Dolce discusses the Reebok deal, Cris Cyborg, heavyweight bodyfat targets, and impending fatherhood.
