The Ideal Body Fat Percentage for MMA Fighter
For an amateur and especially a professional athlete to perform at their peak, they need to be in shape. It goes without saying that diet, exercise, and weight will affect how they perform. Of course, there are the odd exceptions such as John Ruiz who defeated previously unbeaten Anthony Joshua for three of the world’s heavyweight belts.
A sports nutritionist even argued that Ruiz’s extra bulk may have been a benefit as even though he was carrying extra fat it still added weight behind his punches. It would be a strange trainer or nutritionist that suggested having a high body fat percentage would be a good thing normally though. A cyclist would gain nothing from carrying extra pounds around their waist and nor would an MMA fighter.
What should an MMA fighter have when it comes to their body fat percentage, and does this change approaching a fight and normal training?
What is MMA?
For the uninitiated, MMA or mixed martial arts is a full-combat sport that incorporates a number of other fighting styles and disciplines. The very first UFC contest featured a variety of fighters with different backgrounds including Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, savate, shootfighting, Taekwondo, Sumo, and American Kenpo.
The ultimate winner was Royce Gracie whose family had been using MMA to promote their brand of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The result of this competition was an increased interest in the sport and more fighters studying different styles as well as their own. Many boxers train in jiu-jitsu and BJJ has been a dominant force in MMA over the years.
What is BMI?
When doctors and nutritionists look at a person’s weight they will consider the BMI or body mass index. This is a method or measure for seeing if someone has the correct weight to height ratio. It can give a reasonably reliable indication of whether someone is overweight, underweight, or even obese.e
A normal range would be 18.5 to 25, any less is considered underweight and up to 30 is overweight. Anything over 30 would be considered obese. Of course, being obese or even overweight will affect the performance of any athlete, perhaps less so in a Sumo wrestler but generally, it is not the desired approach. Not only does extra body fat affect performance but it brings added health risks too.
What body fat percentage would you expect for a fighter?
One of the oldest styles of full-contact is boxing. Just like many other sports, different levels and different weights are separating the fighters into appropriate categories. There are also amateur and professional levels and studies have shown a difference in the body fat percentages between these.
After researching a number of fighters; male & female, amateur, and professional ResearchGate came to the following conclusions. Amateur male boxers were likely to have a body fat percentage ranging from 9% to 16% and professional boxers would come in at around 12%. Compare this to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez who was 14.6% when fighting Ryan Sharp. Female fighters had a much broader range with up to 25% body fat percentage.
What body fat percentage should an MMA fighter aim for?
Although studies showed that boxers’ body fat percentages might be around 12% it is also true that this differs between fights. Many boxers such as Ricky Hatton have famously blown up between fights although this takes a huge toll on the body. A boxer might be as low as 5% – 9% at times.
There is no cut and dried answer as one fighter might feel more comfortable with slightly more fat than someone else. An MMA fighter might be quite comfortable at around 15/16% but then gradually lower this to 10% for the weigh-in.
There are limitations in measuring BMI and body fat percentages as the charts don’t differentiate between fat and muscle and using calipers to measure fat can be inaccurate. These days there are many useful tools to help read body fat accurately such as the FitTrack USA BMI smart scale; which monitors several health metrics and links to a smartphone. Handy and accurate, modern tech like this can help you to accurately see your BMR, body fat percentage, muscle mass, and more.
As there is maybe no definitive answer to what your body fat percentage should be it is maybe better to focus on a healthy diet and exercise regime. You all know that having a healthy level of fat as opposed to being overweight will bring health benefits so it is good to concentrate on a healthy lifestyle combined with training.
What are the health concerns of carrying too much body fat?
There are many benefits to losing some of that extra baggage but it should be made clear that crash dieting is not healthy or sustainable. A healthy diet full of nutritious food and the right kinds of fat will help a fighter far more in the long run.
Being overweight and especially carrying extra fat around the waist can bring a multitude of health risks. These include but are not limited to:
- Diabetes type 2
- Heart disease
- Heart attack
- High blood pressure
- Stroke
- High cholesterol
MMA fighters need to be fit and due to the intense nature of their workouts and cardio it is unlikely you would see too many flabby fighters but trying to lose weight too quickly brings its own dangers too.
What should MMA fighters eat?
Some fighters such as in the heavyweight division don’t have to worry about cutting weight and some have even boasted about their love of Popeye’s chicken. Normally though a fighter’s diet should consist of carbs, fats, and protein. They also need to take in minerals and vitamins plus other nutrients.
Healthy fats are important so eating fatty fish high in Omega-3 is very good. This means Salmon, mackerel, and tuna among others. Tofu, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds also contain healthy fats.
Protein should be taken in from fish, again, plus chicken and turkey. In the old days you would hear about boxers eating steak after steak but a pro boxer today is more likely to eat chicken and fish. Peanut butter and eggs are also a good source of protein.
Water is one of the most important parts of an MMA fighter’s diet. Avoid sugary drinks, soda, alcohol, and coffee. Green and black tea are good for helping to lose belly fat and studies have shown tea drinkers are likely to have smaller waists than non-tea drinkers.
A healthy diet should be part of a lifestyle and include lots of healthy vegetables and not be a starvation diet. Fruit and vegetables will provide a good source of vitamins and minerals as well as being healthy.
Summary
Normal BMI helps with better PFI (physical fitness index) and it stands to reason that a fighter would want a lower body fat percentage for better performance. Carrying extra fat can lead to sluggish performances. For example, if you watch the English Premier League at the start of the season there will always be a few players who didn’t take pre-season too seriously and are carrying extra fat. This can be seen in their poorer performances. While there may not be an exact body fat percentage that you should aim for it seems that around 10% for weigh-ins is typical. When looking to lose weight speak to a nutritionist and avoid quick fixes.
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