I am curious as to if this has happened. A friend was assuring me that one could not fight professionally on keto but I am skeptical.
I have only found vague statements that do not have sources and/or do not specify if the fighter was on keto while actually fighting and whether or not they were successful.
I’m interested in the answer. I’ve not found much searching Google, but have decided myself to start adding in some carbs to see what happens (I’m no pro fighter!). Keto seems to be endurance focused and I’m sure that’s going to help even with 2-5 minute rounds since carb/fat use is a sliding scale.
I’ve been involved in the martial arts & full contact fighting for a number of years. Granted, I am not involved with a professional circuit/UFC, but after a few months keto I found my fighting equal to, in some cases greatly improved. My speed suffered for the first few months but has since returned. And my stamina is infinite 
Thanks. I did Shaolin Kung Fu ten years ago and that’s what the friend was referencing: that sparring would be impossible on keto, and, by extension, any professional fighting as well. I remember sparring on carbs and it being the most exhausting thing I’ve ever done. That said I now do intense uphill bike rides on keto and am just fine but I don’t know if that’s a fair comparison and hence am looking for an example.
I’m far from professional or even amateur, but I have done moderately rough sparring in Thai boxing while on Keto and before, and I found that it increased my stamina. I think my peak energy was a bit higher while on a carb-heavy diet, but that peak went away fast, and I felt exhausted after. On Keto, the peak isn’t as high, but I never seem to run out of energy. If I go over my energy limits, I slow down some, but I’m right back where I was after I rest or go slower for a minute or two. I never have that droop or exaggerated slow and sloppy feeling from being completely out of gas.
Don’t know whether Connor would be keto, he eats small amounts of carbs, but must burn through them pretty quickly!
Matt Brown. source: joe rogan podcast
meisha tate: source: joe rogan podcast, her own social media
kyle kingsbury: source: joe rogan, his own social media
all of them: when cutting weight
I haven’t done any bouts or matches. Some other people at my gym have, but I haven’t asked them about their diets. Diet needs may be a bit different when you’re training hard for 3-4 hours a day every day.
I will say though, don’t focus too much on winning or losing if you’re trying to see if a diet works. Knockouts are very rare in regulated fighting sports in the US. Most matches are judged based on technique and skill level, and sometimes overall appearance of energy too. If you have the energy to stay on your toes and move fast for the whole fight, then your diet and cardio is doing everything it can do for you. If you want to win, you’re going to have to focus more on what the judges in your league want to see in a match while maintaining your energy base.
My husband is a judge/referee for Muay Thai and their “motto” is “don’t leave the decision in my hands”. And there are quite a few knockouts or ref stoppage due to fighters being no longer fully coherent I. E. Lights are on but nobody is home.
Thanks. I am only trying to prove or disprove a point here: An mma fighter could not win a match while in ketosis.
I have yet to find anyone actually clearly stating: such and such fighter has won matches while in ketosis.
Personally I think it is totally possible. My stamina is way higher on keto but my friend disagrees. So I’m looking for proof supporting my assumption.
I bet they all would be in ketosis unless they were knocked out almost immediately due to the consumption of all liver and muscle glycogen in a short period.
there are reams of scientific studies on ketogenic exercise, glycolytic and endurance in the show me the science section
I will ask hub to check around at his gym as several of the people there are doing keto and a bunch have had fights. I also attend events at which he is judging and I can simply ask the fighters when they do weigh ins if they are following a particular diet. It may be a while though as I’m not sure when the next event is um going to but can report back if/when I find anything out.
I just asked hubby and one of the women he knows was doing keto in November when she fought at nationals and she won. If he recalls correctly she won by 2nd round knock out overhand right. He recalls because she said if she won she would treat herself to a cup of pasta…no sauce…just buttered pasta LOL. She also won a fight earlier this month. I recall because she was all about a pizza splurge after that fight. I think a lot of fighters use keto as a way to cut weight quickly to make weight but then they are only a couple days in, not adapted, keto fluish and not at optimal performance in those cases. JMHO
Thanks! So this is mostly what I was looking for! Not exactly black and white print source but a direct source from a ref is nearly as good! So ketoers can dominate in the ring! Good to know!
Yes I agree but the argument from skeptics is that if you don’t eat carbs you cannot win in the ring, regardless of whether or not you end up in ketosis for periods while in the ring anyway.
In fact it would follow that a fat adapted fighter would do better than someone used to carbs, at least someone new to running out of glycogen anyway.
You burn through your glycogen and then go into instant keto flu exhaustion because you’re not used to running on fat, whereas a fat adapted person is used to running that way. Both end up running on ketones but only the ketoer is adapted to that state. Of course someone who eats lots of carbs and regularly exhausts themselves to this state could maybe have a similar adaptation but to someone who does not do it often the ketoer would possibly have the edge.
The owner of the gym also does keto regularly but is one of those who can have significantly more than 20 carbs likely due to his sheer activity level… his TDEE is probably in the 5 figure range instructing muay thai etc all day. He had a fight last fall and knocked his opponent out in I think it was 37 seconds. It was the main event on the card and personally I would have liked to see a bit more LOL. A knee to the face and good night.
Like I said though I know a lot of that group use keto but not sure if the rest fight while in or just use it to cut weight. Hub is currently doing keto 2 weeks in and has noticed he is not at optimal performance however he also started a new job right at the same time so hard to tell if he’s just also more tired from that.
excluding heavyweights, they are all likely fat adapted due to the weight cutting procedures.