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The Combat Dietitian

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The Combat Dietitian

Jack Doherty
Bachelor of Exercise & Health Science
Masters of Dietetics 2021
Team member at &
[email protected]

02/11/2026

I’ve dieted down more times than I can count.

Surpluses, maintenance phases, aggressive cuts, tracking everything, tracking nothing. I’ve experienced all of it.

And one thing I’ve learnt is that getting lean and staying lean are two very different challenges.

Years ago, I’d diet hard, get the result, then eventually fall back into old habits. The restriction, hunger, reduced energy and poorer training made it difficult to sustain.
What changed wasn’t finding a better diet. It was what I started keeping from each dieting phase.

Similar meals, consistent portions, regular meal timings, whole foods, steps, hydration and sleep. Nothing particularly exciting, but all things I genuinely enjoy and can repeat.

After years of tracking and adjusting my intake, I now understand roughly what my maintenance looks like without needing to log every meal.

I eat out regularly, enjoy foods I want and don’t feel the need to compensate afterwards. I’ve moved away from that all-or-nothing mentality.

I haven’t stopped being disciplined. I’ve just practised these behaviours long enough that most of them are automatic.

It’s something I’ve come to appreciate even more through working with clients. The diet itself is only one part of the process. The behaviours someone develops during it are often what determine whether they can maintain the result.

And that’s where I think a lot of fitness advice misses the point.
You can get lean quickly. But if the approach leaves you exhausted, miserable and unable to imagine eating that way beyond the diet, what have you actually learnt?

These photos are from one of my many shredding phases. The more valuable outcome has been reaching a point where I can maintain a physique I’m happy with, enjoy my food and not constantly think about dieting.

The goal isn’t to diet forever. It’s to develop an approach you can maintain when the diet ends.

31/10/2026

UFC Fight Night 294 | Doha Prep

A full camp this time around, which meant we could put a much greater emphasis on fuelling performance rather than simply managing weight.

Nav’s body composition is consistently in a great place, so the weight management and body composition side of preparation was relatively straightforward. We weren’t chasing aggressive weight loss or making unnecessary changes to his intake. The priority was maintaining a strong nutritional foundation, supporting training demands and allowing any required body composition changes to happen gradually throughout camp.

Fuelling a light heavyweight who trains at a high intensity comes with its own challenges. Training volume is high, energy expenditure is substantial and the amount of food required to support performance can be considerable. Getting enough energy in, consistently, while balancing macronutrients, food quality, digestion, recovery and body composition requires a structured approach.

This is where understanding the athlete becomes important.

We build nutrition around his training schedule, adjust carbohydrate availability based on daily demands, maintain adequate protein, prioritise micronutrient intake and make sure hydration and recovery are accounted for.

The goal isn’t just to get an athlete to fight weight. It’s to get them there while maintaining training quality, adapting to the workload and arriving at fight week in the best possible position.

Having a full camp gives us the opportunity to execute that process properly, collect information, make adjustments and build consistency rather than constantly reacting.

Performance first. Body composition managed. Nutrition periodised around the demands of the camp.

Doha, let’s get to work.

Photo 📸 WILL SLINGSBY 🎥📸

31/10/2026

Full Day of Eating in Camp for Izzy, another camp, but a refined approach! Results will speak for themself 🔥

30/10/2026

Fat quality matters just as much as hitting your daily fat target.
You can hit your prescribed fat intake every day, but the foods supplying those fats can make a significant difference to the overall nutritional quality of your diet.
Not all fat sources provide the same nutritional value.

29/10/2026

You can hit your calories and protein targets every day and still be missing important nutrients.

A 99% nutrition score means your intake is meeting almost all of the nutritional targets being assessed. It looks beyond calories and macros to evaluate how well your diet provides the vitamins, minerals, fibre, essential fats and other nutrients your body needs.

Why does this matter?

Because food quality influences far more than body composition. Your nutritional intake plays a role in energy production, immune function, bone health, muscle function, recovery and a range of other physiological processes.

Consistently falling short on certain nutrients can create gaps that aren’t always obvious from how you look, feel or perform in the gym.

The goal is to identify those gaps before they become a problem, rather than simply assuming that eating enough calories and protein means your nutrition is covered.

Achieving this requires more than following a meal plan. It means understanding your intake, assessing food quality, considering your individual requirements and making targeted adjustments where necessary.

This is the difference between simply eating to hit your macros and building a diet that supports your health, performance and long-term outcomes.

Imagine understanding exactly where your nutrition is performing well, where it could improve and what changes would have the greatest impact on your individual goals.

That’s where a more detailed approach to nutrition can make a real difference.

29/10/2026

The fight isn’t won at the weigh-in. What you do next matters.

Post-weigh-in nutrition is about more than simply eating as much as possible.

After a weight cut, the priority is to restore fluid balance, replace electrolytes, replenish glycogen and get food in without overwhelming the gut.

Your approach needs to account for how much weight you’ve lost, the methods used to make weight, your individual tolerance and the time available before competing.

More food isn’t always better if you can’t digest it comfortably or absorb what you need.

The goal is to arrive on fight night rehydrated, refuelled and ready to perform, not feeling bloated, sluggish or uncomfortable.

Refuelling needs a plan, just like the weight cut itself.

27/10/2026

Full Day of Eating - fat loss and performance edition!

26/10/2026

Full day of eating in Bali.

Wholefoods, enjoyable meals, flexibility and still hitting 200+ grams of protein.

My only goals with nutrition while on holiday are to keep performance high, maximise recovery, prioritise protein, maintain some structure and enjoy myself. I’m not trying to track every calorie or make every meal perfect.

Travelling can create anxiety around nutrition for some people, particularly when routines change and food choices are less predictable. But there are always ways to maintain some consistency without letting nutrition dictate your holiday.

Prioritise protein, include nutrient-dense wholefoods, stay hydrated, keep moving and enjoy the foods and experiences that come with travelling.

You don’t need to choose between enjoying your holiday and looking after your health and performance.

The goal is to have structure without restriction, flexibility without losing direction, and consistency without perfection.

26/10/2026

Having worked with Izzy across different stages of his career, we’ve accumulated years of information on how his body responds to training, nutrition and weight management. This camp, the focus has been on using everything we’ve learned to take a more comprehensive approach.

Beyond calories and macros, we’ve prioritised whole food quality, micronutrient intake, gut health, digestion, hydration and electrolytes, alongside reviewing supplementation in the context of his bloodwork and individual requirements.

The goal is to look beyond simply making weight and build a nutrition strategy that supports overall health, recovery and performance. Every decision needs to translate into how he feels and performs in practice.

The feedback so far has been encouraging, with Izzy describing feeling “amazing, faster, sharper, and hitting PBs” in training.

His body composition is also improving, with his weight in a better position this far out from a fight than at previous stages of his career.

Importantly, we’re achieving this without aggressive weight loss being the priority. Getting ahead early creates more flexibility to fuel training properly, reduce pressure later in camp and approach fight week from a better starting position.

It’s a constant process of reviewing, refining and individualising. Not just building a plan around an athlete, but building a plan around how that athlete actually responds.

25/10/2026

Most people assume fighters have sky-high testosterone levels but the research says otherwise.
In fact, many combat athletes may be walking around with below-average test levels. Here’s why.

A recent study comparing male martial artists to other male athletes found no significant difference in baseline testosterone levels. Surprising, right?

The likely reason? Low Energy Availability (LEA), a state where you’re eating far less than your body burns, often for weeks or months at a time. This is common in fighters aggressively cutting weight.

In endurance sports, LEA is a well-known cause of suppressed testosterone. A 2023 review confirmed that athletes who restrict intake and manipulate body weight often see major hormonal drops.

And fighters? They take it even further.
One case study followed an MMA fighter who lost 18.1% of his body weight over 8 weeks his testosterone crashed.

Want to protect your hormones during a cut?
1. Pick the right weight class
2. Stay in a smart, manageable deficit
3. Fuel properly around training

If you’re prepping for a fight and want to cut without crushing your test levels or performance . Let’s book a free discovery call and set up a smarter plan.

muaythai mmaweightcut learningscience hormonalsupport nutritioncoach fighterfuel lowenergyavailability sportsnutritionist fightcamp testosteronefacts

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