The Mixed Martial Arts Fighter
From espn.com
For all the health and performance reasons an athlete might consider when switching to a meatless diet — cutting out animal fats, introducing a broader range of vitamins and nutrients — occasionally you’ll find an athlete who makes the switch for entirely different reasons. In Mac Danzig’s case, it takes awhile to fully digest the idea.
At a ripped 5-foot-9, 155 pounds, Danzig is a rising star in mixed martial arts. He fights under the direction of the Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas, training with some of the biggest names in the sport. To succeed in mixed martial arts, competitors must wield explosive strength, the kind typically linked to high-protein foods. When your job is to clobber other men into submission, a meaty diet seems like a given.
“I believed what everybody said,” Danzig confirmed, “that you need animal protein in your diet if you’re going to train hard and win.”
Mac Danzig doesn’t seem hindered by his vegan diet. Just ask his bloodied and battered opponent.That path butted up against beliefs he’d held since childhood. Raised by his single mom in western Pennsylvania, Danzig loved animals and has owned pets throughout his life. A nature lover from a young age, his mother would take him camping and hiking any chance they could get. He’d go to his grandmother’s house in the woods and watch the birds, so much so that he learned how to identify them, cataloging each bird in a guidebook. While other kids watched cartoons, the precocious Danzig was watching “Nova,” “National Geographic” and any other nature specials he could find. When he finally switched to an all-vegan diet four years ago, he did so for ethical reasons, primarily his love of animals and his concern for the environment.He’d always wanted to go vegetarian, but he and his mom had never thought they’d had the resources to do it. His surroundings also made that kind of lifestyle change seem impossible.
“Western Pennsylvania was the same as a lot of Midwest areas,” Danzig said. “There were regular grocery stores, Denny’s — that was about it. No one around us was doing anything like that, going vegetarian or vegan. So it didn’t happen.”
In 1999, right before he started training to become an MMA fighter, Danzig got a job at an animal sanctuary. The people who owned and operated the place were vegans and showed him that a meatless diet could be healthy and affordable if done the right way. But there was another side to their education.
“They just seemed like these fanatical vegan people,” he said. “They kind of wore it on their sleeve, and I wasn’t into that. I said to myself that I’d want to do it one day. But with my training about to start, I didn’t think the time was right. I thought, maybe after I have a successful career, I could try it then.”
Danzig dove into his training, determined to make a career out of his love for MMA competition. First he took up jiu-jitsu, then submission grappling. In 2002, he moved to California to train more seriously and compete full time. He found early success, rising to the rank of lightweight champion and winning the King of the Cage competition. To further advance his career, he entered the UFC-sponsored reality series “The Ultimate Fighter,” which he also went on to win, raising his celebrity status in the sport.
As his career evolved, so did his diet. He’d already cut out all dairy products years ago, as they’d given him health problems, all the way up to debilitating ear infections, sinus problems and even vertigo. He then stopped eating mammals entirely. But poultry and fish remained staples of his diet. In 2004, he took the next step, cutting out poultry and fish and going entirely vegan. His role model was strength and conditioning instructor Mike Mahler. Danzig followed Mahler’s diet down to the smallest detail. If this famed fitness guru could do it, that was proof enough for Danzig that he could do it, too. Danzig won his first fight after the switch, giving him further inspiration.
“I felt really good for that fight,” he said. “I didn’t have any problems with strength, didn’t feel weak. I had cravings for about a month, then they stopped. I haven’t had any cravings since.”
Though Danzig at first feared a meatless diet would hurt his performance, he now says it has helped him recover faster from fights and workouts. Rather than heavy weightlifting, Danzig’s training focuses on plyometrics (rapid muscle stretching and muscle contracting), calisthenics and various cardiovascular routines. He hasn’t lost any strength, he said, and his endurance has improved, allowing him to work out longer and recover more quickly.
In the meantime, Danzig has continued to build up his career. Fighting in UFC 83 in April, he battled jiu-jitsu expert Mark Bocek for 14 minutes before forcing his opponent to submit to a choke hold. The fight was Danzig’s first since winning the finale of “The Ultimate Fighter” and moving to the lightweight division.
Other challenges remain. Though his training partners and fellow competitors have respected his dietary decisions, some MMA fans have lashed out at Danzig.
“I’ve noticed a lot of negative things said about me, saying ‘Who does he think he is?’” Danzig explained. “So many people who are vegetarian or especially vegan, really wear it on their sleeve, like they’re part of some exclusive club. That’s not my style.”
Instead, Danzig is content to be, as some friends call him, a nature boy. When not slapping submission holds on opponents, he’s passionate about backpacking. He has developed his second career, Mac Danzig Photography, and specializes in taking pictures of natural landscapes. And he’s sticking to his convictions, both inside and outside the octagon.
“What I’m doing might be just a drop in the bucket,” he mused. “My whole philosophy is not that it’s bad necessarily — we are omnivores, with the ability to survive on both. But in this day and age, I don’t want to contribute to the meat and dairy industries if it’s not necessary. That’s not just for the animals. It’s for the Earth, too.”
