The biggest fight of Conor McGregor’s career is right around the corner and he’s continuing to pull out all the stops.
Yet again, ‘The Notorious’ has brought on board one of the most respected nutritionists in the world, George Lockhart, as his diet adviser and personal chef.
Lockhart, a former fighter himself, finds himself in Ireland alongside McGregor as he puts the finishing touches on his UFC 205 training camp.
McGregor and Lockhart have worked together on frequent occasions in recent years and in an extensive interview with Bloody Elbow, the man behind the meals has explained how they met.
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“It was actually through his coach, John Kavanagh – he heard me on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani,” Lockhart said. “I was talking about Cris Cyborg’s cut, and he reached out to me, talked to me, asked what my system was and said they might be in contact. This was three weeks before his first fight with Jose Aldo. They reached out to me, we started working with them and everything went well.”
McGregor is just over a week away from a chance at making history as he will take to the Octagon on November 12 with the potential to become the first fighter in UFC history to hold a belt in two different weight classes simultaneously.
To claim that honour, he will have to dethrone UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez in Madison Square Garden which is no mean feat.
Ahead of the landmark event, Lockhart went on to explain how quickly McGregor has adapted to his new diet regimen, revealing that the Dubliner is just as disciplined when it comes to eating as he is with his training.
“Some people know how to read their body and listen to their body,” Lockhart said. “With Conor I could make a huge bowl of food and tell him to eat until he’s full, and there might be a third of the bowl missing. With other people, I could tell them to eat until they’re full and the whole bowl would be gone. They don’t listen to their body at all.
“That’s the average American; we’re raised with the thought process of finishing everything on our plate. We might be full as all get out, but we’re still going to pick at that food as long as it’s in front of us.
“Conor isn’t one of those people. We listen to the body and give the body what it needs. If I have a fighter who feels hungry at a certain time, I work out what macronutrient they need. If they feel weak, or tired, or bloated, we can adjust right there on the spot.
“If Conor was to be like, ‘I feel tired, but I need to work out in an hour,’ and I have a bunch of rice and carbohydrates prepped for him, I sure as hell ain’t giving him that! If he’s hungry in that situation, I’ll address it in a different way.”
And if you’re looking for a little titbit of advice from Lockhart that you can incorporate into your own life, he kindly offered some wise words on how best to fuel your body ahead of a gruelling workout.
“The general rule of thumb with people, we want protein before workouts because it releases the hormone glucagon,” Lockhart said.
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“We also give them carbohydrates before they work out but we don’t give them a lot of fats. Fats create a lot more gastric dumping and intestinal issues. You’re going to get a lot of gas and thing’s like that.
“We want to make sure the brain is fuelled so one thing that I like to do is give kefir which has a lot of protein and is easy to digest. It releases the glucagon and it’s a strong probiotic. Then I load that with blackberries and blueberries. Blackberries are high in fructose, fructose goes straight to the liver and fuels the brain, it makes you feel like you’re strong and ready to rock and roll for the workout.”
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