Michael “Mike” Dolce (born April 15, 1976) is an American trainer, strength and conditioning coach, weight-cut coach, author, nutrition and fitness expert, and motivational speaker. He is a former

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

. Dolce is best known for managing the weight cuts of UFC athletes such as

Johny Hendricks Johny Harvey Hendricks (born September 12, 1983) is an American former mixed martial artist and collegiate wrestler. He competed in the welterweight and middleweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is a former UFC Welterwe ...

Ronda Rousey Ronda Jean Rousey (; born February 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler, actress, former judoka and mixed martial artist. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand and is the current SmackDown Women� ...

and Thiago Alves. He was voted as the 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 World MMA Trainer of the Year.

Early life

Mike Dolce was born and raised in

Belmar, New Jersey Belmar is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated on the Jersey Shore. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 5,794,

, the son of James Vincent Dolce (who worked with animals), and Joanne Cobb. At age 8 he had an obsession with muscle building and strength training which led him to become a wrestler and powerlifter in high school. By the age of 13, Dolce was wrestling competitively, and cutting weight in an attempt to earn a college scholarship. In 1993, when he was 17 years old, Dolce opened his own personal training business, which he still promotes via shadow accounts through MMA-based forums.

Professional fighting career

Dolce started training as a wrestler in 1990. In 1999, Dolce began practicing mixed martial arts (MMA). As a professional MMA fighter, he fought at welterweight for the Portland Wolfpack of the

International Fight League The International Fight League was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion billed as the world's first MMA league. It was founded on January 7, 2006, and closed on July 31, 2008.

(IFL) and set the record for fastest knockout in IFL history. He won his first three professional MMA bouts. Dolce made it onto season 7 of reality TV show ''

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen ...

'' but was eliminated in the first round.

Professional coaching career

In 2004, Dolce was hired as the head strength and conditioning coach by

Team Quest Team Quest is a mixed martial arts training camp founded by Randy Couture and Dan Henderson with facilities located in Gresham, Oregon; Murrieta, California; Encinitas, California; Redding, California; Hemet, California; and Chiang Mai, Thailand. ...

in Portland, Oregon, working with Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Nate Quarry, and Chael Sonnen. Dolce’s methods as a weight-cut coach were highlighted in 2010, after successfully managing the 45-pound weight cut for Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. In another successful weight-cut, Dolce helped

Duane Ludwig Duane Paul Ludwig (born August 4, 1978) is an American mixed martial arts coach, retired professional kickboxer and mixed martial artist. Ludwig formerly held the unofficial fastest knockout record in the UFC after his win against Jonathan Goul ...

. He also led

through her weight cut for her championship fight against

Miesha Tate Miesha Theresa Tate ( ; born August 18, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in which she is a former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Tate formerly comp ...

. Since then, Dolce has been the weight-cut coach to many UFC athletes such as

Gilbert Melendez Gilbert Melendez (born April 12, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a two-time Strikeforce Lightweight Champion and a former WEC Lightwe ...

Vitor Belfort Vítor Vieira Belfort (; born 1 April 1977) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight and Middleweight divisions. Belfort previously competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought in the Heavyw ...

, Thiago Alves,

Chael Sonnen Chael Patrick Sonnen (; born April 3, 1977) is an American submission grappling promoter, mixed martial arts (MMA) analyst, and retired mixed martial artist. Beginning his MMA career in 1997, Sonnen competed for the Ultimate Fighting Champions ...

, Mirsad Bektic,

Nik Lentz Nik Lentz (born August 13, 1984) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He most notably fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, fighting in the lightweight division. Background Lentz was born in El Paso, Texas but grew up in Twin C ...

Michael Bisping Michael Gavin Joseph Bisping (; born 28 February 1979) is an English actor, sports analyst, commentator and retired mixed martial artist, who competed in the Middleweight and Light Heavyweight division of the UFC. A professional competitor s ...

, Antonio Silva and

Jake Ellenberger Jacob Steven "Jake" Ellenberger (born March 28, 1985) is an American retired mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and former United States Marine Corps, United States Marine who was known for competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (U ...

, helping them shed significant pounds before their fights. In 2007, Dolce published ''The Dolce Diet: 3 Weeks to Shredded.'' He then published ''The Dolce Diet: Living Lean'' in 2010 and ''The Dolce Diet: Living Lean Cookbook'' in 2011. Dolce also records weekly fitness and nutrition podcasts, videos and gives over 30 motivational talks to the U.S. military every year.

Awards and recognitions

Dolce boasts one of the fastest knockouts in International Fight League (IFL) history. He was voted the 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 Trainer of the Year at the

World MMA Awards The World MMA Awards are awards presented by ''Fighters Only'' magazine to honor exceptional performance in various aspects of mixed martial arts. Winners are presented with the ''Fighters Only silver statuette''. The World MMA Awards are divided ...

, an award given to the leading and most influential strength and conditioning expert, sports psychology mentor or nutrition advisor in MMA. In 2014, Dolce was inducted into the New Jersey Martial Arts Hall of Fame for his contributions in the area of health and nutrition. His career highlight as a coach so far has been successfully managing the 45-pound weight cut for

Quinton Jackson Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (born June 20, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist, actor and former professional wrestler, who most recently fought in the Bellator MMA. He is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and unified the Pride Middle ...

in 2010.

Criticism

In 2014, Dolce coached BJ Penn for his third fight with

Frankie Edgar Frankie Edgar (born October 16, 1981) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist, who most recently competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Beginning his career in the Lightweight division, ...

. Penn lost the fight via TKO, and said afterwards he would "never hire Dolce again for anything". Dolce responded to the criticism and cited stress and pressure as reasons for Penn's loss. George Lockhart, nutritionist to Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier and other UFC champions, claimed in 2014 that he had never seen any real science from Dolce, and pointed to the fact that four athletes coached by Dolce had been caught using

performance-enhancing drugs Performance-enhancing substances, also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. A well-known example of cheating in sports involves doping in sport, where ban ...

. UFC commentator, Joe Rogan, refuted these claims in episode 579 of his podcast, stating, "no Dolce athlete... ever tested positive for any banned substances, while working with Dolce." A follow up interview with Mike Dolce showed that he had turned down a business proposal by Lockhart in which Dolce would have nothing to do with designing the programs or diets, but would simply lend his name for marketing purposes. Steph Daniels stated, "I can verify the contents of the e-mail to be exactly as he described, since Mike forwarded it to me."

Mixed martial arts record

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Kennewick, Washington Kennewick () is a city in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima rivers and across from the confluence of the Co ...

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Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

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Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

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Roman Mitichyan Roman Mitichyan (born September 4, 1978) is an Armenian-American professional mixed martial artist, actor and stuntman. He briefly appeared on Spike TV's reality show '' The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra'', as a part of Team Serra, ...

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Ontario, California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan are ...

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Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

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Wilmington, Massachusetts Wilmington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population was 23,349 at the 2020 United States census. History Wilmington was first settled in 1665 and was officially incorporated in 1730, from parts of Woburn, Read ...

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Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census ...

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Karl Amoussou Karl Amoussou (born November 21, 1985) is a French-German professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of Cage Warriors, where he is the current Welterweight Champion. A professional competitor since ...

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Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

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Mike Pierce Michael Pierce (born September 1, 1980) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist. He formerly competed as a Welterweight in the UFC and also competed in a one-fight stint in the WEC. Personal life Pierce is married and has two c ...

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Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

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Lyman Good Lyman Merrill Good (born May 26, 1985), also known as "American Cyborg", is an American mixed martial artist. He is perhaps best known for his time spent with Bellator, where he was the inaugural Bellator Welterweight Champion. Good currently co ...

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East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 10,022, reflecting an increase of 1,109 (+12.4%) from the 8,913 counted in the 2010 census.

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Antonio McKee Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

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Everett, Washington Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...

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Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a village in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3-0 , Jim Abrille , TKO (punches) , IFL: Atlanta , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:19 ,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

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Mixed martial arts amateur record

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Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 1-2 , Cory Devela , KO (punch) , SF 12: Breakout , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:00 ,

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Gresham, Oregon Gresham ( ) is a city located in Multnomah County, Oregon, in the United States of America, immediately east of Portland, Oregon. It is considered a suburb within the Greater Portland Metropolitan area. Though it began as a settlement in the mid ...

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Media

Dolce was named a Game Changer of the Year in 2014 by ''Men's Fitness'' magazine. He was also a coach on ABC's ''Extreme Weight Loss'' with

Chris Powell Christopher George Robin Powell (born 8 September 1969) is an English football coach and former player, who is currently head of coaching at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur's Academy and a coach for the England national team. As a left ...

in 2014. Dolce was featured on ''Wake Up Call'', hosted by

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the develop ...

, in 2014 as the expert nutritionist, and appeared on an episode of MTV's ''Jobs That Don't Suck''. Dolce has also been featured heavily on London Real TV for his diet, fitness and motivation advice.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolce, Mike 1976 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Monmouth County, New Jersey People from Belmar, New Jersey