How do MMA fighters cut huge amounts of weight in a span of days whereas regular people can’t cut a few kilos/pounds in months?

There are many differences between Professional MMA fighters and “Regular People”…the keyword there is “Professional”.

  1. Professional MMA fighters are dedicated to MMA 100%, for as long as they continue to fight professionally. So, they HAVE to be fit enough for the demands of the sport or they are going to get cut from their contracts.
  2. They have the Money, the Dedication (and the Compulsion as discussed in the earlier point) to employ Good and Proven Nutritionist, who specialize in this.
    1. These Nutrition Professionals are therefore, very aware of what kinds of foods affect the fighters and how they can tweak the Macros to get the results the fighters need, in the time-frame they are looking to obtain these results.
    2. In addition, these Nutrition Experts also experiment with various types of food and their effect on the fighter, by constantly monitoring their Blood Work and through other tests, to ensure that their fighter is eighter Gaining/Losing Weight as required, while Maximizing/Maintaining their Lean Body Mass.
  3. These Professional Fighters train so much, so hard everyday in a manner that would be impossible to replicate by a “Regular Person”. With all this Intense Activity, they burn a Lot of Calories every hour, every day.
  4. They also employ Expert Strength and Conditioning Coaches, who can drive the Fighter’s Strength and Conditioning, to levels which combined might not be possible to be achieved by “Regular Persons”
  5. The Head Coach of these Professional Fighters are there to Strategize and to Monitor all the above, to Maximize the effectiveness of their Fighting Machine (the Professional MMA fighter).
  6. The Age, Genetics, General Health and of course the Never Give-Up Attitude of a Professional MMA Fighter is also to his/her advantage.
    1. A Regular Person might not be so lucky with his/her Genetics
    2. He/She could be a much older person, which makes it generally more difficult (but not impossible), to lose weight and to do that quickly and in a healthy manner.
    3. A Regular Person might have also contracted health abnormalities such as High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Cardio-Vascular Issues and such, due to possibly their Sedentary, yet Stressful Job/Lifestyle, which will generally slow them down for sure.
    4. While a Professional MMA fighter completely concentrates on his/her Job, which is the MMA, “Regular Persons” has to contend with their Job and various other necessary activities that have to be taken care of by themselves.
    5. While Professional MMA fighters too can have family, they are unable to devote significant amounts of time towards their family, at-least not as much as a “Regular Person” usually is needing to do.
    6. Therefore, “Regular Persons” are obviously not able to Concentrate, Dedicate and Work Out as much as a Professional MMA fighter. Regular Persons do not also have the luxury of having someone like a Head Coach monitor their Progress (or the lack of it) and to keep them motivated and moving forward towards their Goals, every minute of every day.

Of course, it is open to debate, where a LOT of weight cutting especially if done so rapidly is healthy for any person irrespective of whether he/she is a Professional MMA Fighter or not.

While for a Professional MMA Fighter, this might not be a choice, given the weight class he/she is fighting in and taking into consideration also, the Competition Schedule.

So, in Summary then, for a “Regular Person” cutting weight, in a very rapid manner, is not mandatory. With proper Nutrition, Activity and Lifestyle changes, it is definitely possible for a “Regular Person” to reduce Body Weight due to Excess Body Fat, within proper time-frames that don’t need to be rushed.