How fighters cut weight (and what everyone else can learn)

Fighters reach their weight class in two very different stages. First comes the fight camp: several weeks of slow, steady fat loss with a moderate calorie deficit, high protein and hard training. Then, in fight week, some fighters drop a further amount of water and food weight to step on the scale, and regain it after weigh-ins. The first stage is good nutrition that anyone can learn from. The second is a specialised, risky practice that should only ever happen under qualified supervision, and never as a way for anyone else to lose weight.

Our founder, Yousri Soliman, is an MMA fighter, so fight camps are part of how The Solimans thinks about food. This guide explains the process at a high level, where the real dangers are, and what regular people can take from it.

This article is general information, not a protocol. If you are preparing for a fight, work with your coach and a qualified sports nutritionist or doctor.

Fat loss vs making weight: what's the difference?

	Fat loss (fight camp)	Making weight (fight week)
Timeframe	Weeks to months	The last few days before weigh-ins
What changes	Body fat	Water, glycogen and gut content
Is it lasting?	Yes, if habits hold	No, regained within a day or two
Main tools	Moderate deficit, high protein, training	Planned, temporary changes to food and fluid
Risk	Low, if the deficit is sensible	Rises sharply with dehydration

Most of a fighter's weight should come off as fat during camp. The closer they arrive to their limit before fight week, the smaller and safer any final cut needs to be.

How do fighters lose fat during a camp?

A fight camp diet looks a lot like any well-built cut:

• A moderate deficit, typically around 300–500 kcal a day below maintenance, so training quality holds up.
• High protein, often around 1.6–2.2 g per kg of bodyweight, to protect muscle through hard sparring and conditioning.
• Carbs around training. Fighters train hard, sometimes twice a day, and carbohydrate fuels those sessions. Cutting carbs too low tends to hurt performance.
• Structure. Meals planned in advance, weighed or portioned, at regular times.
• Hydration. Especially in a hot climate like Bali, fighters drink steadily through camp.

High-protein meals that stay under about 600 kcal are the backbone of most camp days. Here are the High Protein dishes from our menu that fit, sorted by protein:

Dish	kcal	Protein	Carbs	Fat	Price
Chicken Tawook Tabbouleh	600	72 g	33 g	20 g	Rp 100K
Champion's Lettuce Chicken Burger	567	65 g	16 g	27 g	Rp 100K
Egg Chicken Frittata Omelette	561	64 g	11 g	29 g	Rp 100K
Recovery Salad	586	59 g	29 g	26 g	Rp 100K
Shirataki Chicken Stir Fry	518	57 g	32 g	18 g	Rp 100K

Our fight camp meal plan shows how these fit into full training days, and the Custom plan lets you set exact macros with your coach.

What happens in fight week?

At a high level, fight week is about reducing temporary weight without losing fat or muscle. Approaches used under professional supervision can include:

• Lower-fibre, lower-residue food for a few days, so there is less food weight in the gut.
• Reducing carbohydrate to lower stored glycogen, which holds water.
• Managing salt and fluid intake in a planned way over the final days.

The details vary a lot between athletes, sports and rules, and they need to be planned around the individual. That is why we are not giving a step-by-step protocol here.

Why extreme water cuts are dangerous

This is the part that matters most. Severe dehydration is not a diet technique; it is a medical risk.

• Heat illness and collapse, made more likely by saunas, sweat suits and hot climates like Bali's.
• Kidney stress and injury.
• Worse performance and possibly greater injury risk if a fighter competes before fully recovering.
• Serious harm and deaths have been linked to extreme weight cuts in combat sports.

Because of this, some promotions and federations have changed their rules, for example by checking hydration or moving weigh-ins. Many coaches now encourage fighters to compete closer to their natural walk-around weight. If a cut is being considered at all, it should be modest, planned well in advance, and supervised by qualified professionals, with a proper rehydration and refuelling plan afterwards.

If you are not a competing athlete with a medical team, do not try a water cut. Ever.

What can everyone else learn from fighters?

The useful lessons all come from the fight camp, not fight week.

1. The scale is not the whole story

A fighter can drop several kilos of water in days and put it all back on in a day. Your weight moves the same way on a smaller scale: a salty dinner, a big carb day or a long sweaty session can shift it by a kilo or so overnight, with no change in body fat. Judge progress on the trend over weeks.

2. Start early and go slowly

Fighters who start their camp close to their weight class have an easier, safer fight week. If you have a goal date, such as a holiday or an event, start weeks ahead with a moderate deficit instead of crash dieting at the end.

3. Protein protects performance

Fighters keep protein high so they can keep training hard while eating less. The same works for anyone trying to lose fat without feeling flat. Our guide to cutting in Bali has a full example day.

4. Fuel the work

Fighters eat carbs around training because their sessions demand it. If you train hard, don't strip carbs out completely; time them around your sessions. See what to eat around Muay Thai training for practical timing.

5. Remove decisions

Camp works because meals are planned. That is the whole idea of a meal plan: the food is already chosen, portioned and counted, so willpower is not tested three times a day.

Training in Bali?

Plenty of people come to Bali to train combat sports, and the heat makes good fuelling and hydration even more important. We deliver meal prep across Canggu, Pererenan and Munggu, Monday to Saturday, with breakfast around 9–10 AM and lunch and dinner around 11 AM–12 PM. Browse this week's menu, read more about The Solimans, or build your week with at least 2 meals a day for 5–7 days.