Mike Grundy losing two stone ahead of UFC fight

The Wigan featherweight will take on American veteran Nik Lentz on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, next Saturday, January 16.

And the 33-year-old has given an insight into the weight cut which saw him snub the roasties and mince pies on Christmas Day!

Grundy is usually a trim and fit 80kg, but needs to be down to 66kg when he weighs in the day before his fight.

“The weight cut can be brutal and you have to know your own body, but I’ve done it before,” said Grundy, who was down to 75kg before Christmas.

“I’m consuming 2,200 calories per day and I’m training four hours a day. And on a rest day, it’s 1,900 calories – everything is worked out. The last 5kgs is mainly water, that’s the hardest bit.

“In the last 24 hours before weigh in, you can’t have any food and you’ve still got to train two or three times, so it’s mentally and physically challenging.

“I’ve done it before - I once fought in Japan in January, so I was doing the same at this time of year.

“If there was a Christmas to miss, it was this one with the lockdown. It was turkey and veg but no potatoes and definitely no Christmas pudding!”

His wife Debbie is eating for two – she is expecting their third son on February 13.

“But the other two were early, so I’m cutting it a bit fine,” added Grundy.

His last fight was also on ‘Fight Island’, where he suffered a broken jaw in a points defeat to Russian Movsar Evloev.

A former international wrestler who won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he won his UFC debut in 2019.