The UFC heavyweight champion was exhausted following his five-round epic victory over rival Daniel Cormier. If you viewed his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, you could hear how a nearly half an hour of combat took its toll on the winded Miocic, which is to be expected when you’re defending your belt against a fellow MMA legend.
“My leg was sore and pretty beat up, my face was a little nicked up and my hands were hurting, but what would you expect after 25 minutes with DC?” Miocic says. “I’ll treasure the amazing battles we had.”
Now, two months since the conclusion of their titanic trilogy, MMA fans are now itching to find out Miocic’s next blockbuster matchup, with rumors swirling of a possible rematch with No. 1 contender Francis Ngannou kicking in. There’s also talk of a matchup against former UFC and WWE heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar, as well as a highly anticipated superfight against Jon Jones.
Miocic will let that all into place. For the time being, whoever the next opponent is, as Cormier discovered, the UFC’s all-time best heavyweight is now fresh and physically prepared for his next opponent, thanks in part to a brutally effective and successful training routine that has helped keep him victorious of seven of his last eight fights. In fact, Miocic’s most formidable opponent at the moment when it comes to training, may be himself.
“If you know me, you know I’m stubborn,” Miocic says. “There’s days like, I don’t have it, but I’m going to keep going. But usually my coach is like, ‘You look like shit. We’re calling it a day.’ That usually happens by the end of the training week, when I’m really exhausted.”
Even when the arena is empty as was the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, it’s nearly impossible not to be wired when you enter the cage. “It was kind of weird at first,” Miocic admits, “just because usually there’s people screaming. But once you get into the Octagon, it’s like, here we go!”
Arguably, August’s fight against Cormier may have been the least physically taxing part of the MMA training process considering the terrible two-a-days pro Miocic goes through, part of the reason Miocic says he relies on daily arsenal of Kill Cliff for pre- and post-workout drinks.
“Training is always harder, no question,” Miocic says. “Monday you’ll feel amazing, then by Saturday you’ll feel like garbage because you’re so beat up because you’re always doing a lot of different things.”
With 23 career pro fights worth of wear and tear on his 38-year-old body, remaining healthy, flexible and injury free top Miocic’s list of training goals at this point of his career. In addition to inhaling Kill Cliff CBD (“I have a fridge full in the garage,” he says. “I’ll usually drink two or three of those a night”), regular chiropractor visits along with a near daily dose of Epsom salt baths have become his recovery norm.
Staying in top shape these days meant changes to Miocic’s conditioning regimen. No longer is outdoor running a viable training option. Instead, the champ opts for a few days of week of the AlterG anti-gravity treadmill, which he calls a joint saver.
But the biggest adjustment made to his conditioning routine he says was by adding high-intensity aquatic training to his repertoire. The coaches wanted Miocic working hard, while going soft on his joints by adding pool sprints and punch drills. To both Miocic’s benefit and agony, they even thought outside the box by pointing the champ to the bottom of a swimming pool, where waiting for him was a 5 to 10 pound weight for him to retrieve and return back to the surface.
It was a rough way to finish a workout, but Miocic credits this move with helping him last five rounds against Cormier.
“It was terrible,” Miocic says. “We did sets for that, which just blew up my lungs. That was hard.”
For travel purposes, especially during COVID times, training in his backyard pool had its logistical benefits, but water training was a great benefit in easing unneeded stress on his joints, which allowed Miocic to train continuously at a high level with little risk of overworking his aging joints.
“It would come at the end of the workout, which sucks,” Miocic admits. “You’re already tired. But you got to get the conditioning moving. And normally I’m sore and banged up from training hard. But once I got to the pool, it was so much easier on my joints. And even though I was training hard, it still felt like I was able to recover.”
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ROUND AND ROUND
What does one round of an MMA fight feel like for fighters? Pick what you consider your most grueling exercise: squats, deadlifts, burpees, then do it nonstop for five minutes (you can up the intensity by fighting off rear-naked choke attempts from your spotter). Keep pushing and it won’t take long before body parts start begging to tap out, beginning with your lungs. The better your conditioning, the better chances you’ll go the distance like Miocic.
Five-minute rounds per exercise was how Miocic would conduct his weight-training sessions, as if each set of squats or deadlifts were his opponent. According to Miocic, one morning session can consist of belt squats for five, then straight to deadlifts for another 300 seconds. Usually with a one-minute rest, on a particularly strong day, Miocic may throw in lateral shuffles or high kicks to incorporate more fast-twitch muscles before moving on to the next set of kettlebell swings, calf or hamstring work, before wrapping up the first workout of the day with shadow boxing.
“It helps your endurance,” Miocic says. “You might be in great shape, but your muscles may not be able to keep up with you, so we our goal is to stay strong and get stronger as the fight goes on.”
