BJ Penn news reveals "The Prodigy" fired back at nutritionist Mike Dolce after the latter issued statements about the former's training concerns. The two-division UFC champion also claimed that he received no attention from Dolce as he prepared for his final fight against Frankie Edgar in July.
A month after his final fight against former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar in July, "The Prodigy" made a bold statement, mainly circling around his feelings towards his nutritionist Mike Dolce.
"As far as Mike Dolce goes; I would never hire him again for anything," Penn said in an interview with his own website BJPenn.com, a month after his final fight.
Dolce then responded to Penn's claims during his guesting at The Joe Rogan Experience, a podcast hosted by UFC analyst Joe Rogan.
BJ Penn news reveals "The Prodigy's" responses to Dolce in a report by MMA Fighting.
"He said he had no influence in my camp, but he brought in sparring partners, did my food and diet, and had me do his treadmill, plyometrics, and core routines," Penn responded. "I don't know what he's talking about."
BJ Penn news also revealed Mike Dolce's claims of "The Prodigy's" attitude problems during camp, particularly with regards to training.
"All the other athletes I work with train much more often," Dolce added. "(He trained) once a day, but not quite every day. The type of training was less. I don't know why there were no coaches there that were truly able to make influence."
Penn also responded to this allegation.
"We trained 5-6 days a week," he said. "Cardio in the morning, I ran anywhere from four to eight miles a day, and sparring/grappling and MMA training in the evening. I sparred five rounds at any moment. I passed all his treadmill intervals with flying colors, and I listened to him on every step of the diet that he gave me."
BJ Penn also stated that Dolce gave him no attention, particularly during fight week when he needed it the most.
"I woke up the next day (fight day) at 150 [pounds] and I ate this much food for the 13 hours before the fight that day," he continued. "Dolce didn't come to check on me, or monitor my weight, and I couldn't get in touch with him. I don't feel there was any real attempt to get back to my sparring weight after weighing in."