Max Holloway may or may not have been name-dropped by Drake on his latest album, but for Holloway, Scorpion appearances are basically window dressing. Pound for pound, the Hawaii native is one of the best fighters in the world right now, and although concussion-like symptoms made him a late scratch from his matchup with Brian Ortega at Saturday's UFC 226, the sport's reigning featherweight champion will hopefully return to the Octagon soon to defend his title.

As his career has progressed, the grueling nature of MMA played a major role in Holloway's decision to rely full-time on a nutritionist in the weeks leading up to his bouts. He recently spoke to GQ about how doing so has changed his training regimen—and how, even if you know everything you're supposed to be doing and not doing, hard it is to say no to dark chocolate.

GQ: How has working with a nutritionist affected your preparation for this fight?

Max Holloway: We try to keep things the same for every fight: Watch the fighter, break it down. Everything is pretty much the same. Working with Tyler is great, though. He comes in during the last four weeks of camp, and it’s awesome having someone there so I can focus on my training and he can focus on the meal. He makes sure that I’m hitting all the nutrients, and eating at the times I need to eat.

The faster you recover, the more time you can train, and there’s just less stress from having to think, like, Oh, I gotta cook this, I have to go to the grocery store and get this, this, and this. I’ve had this nutritionist for about a year or so. After that first fight, I could see a big difference. It was exciting.

Many athletes we talk to don’t have nutritionists, and just sort of figure things out as they go. When you started working with one, did you learn anything weird about your diet?

Nothing weird—just a lot about eating at certain times, and a lot about the reasons why we eat. I’d be like, “I don’t want to drink this,” and he would explain why I needed to. I feel way better with my energy levels and recovery levels.

Man, a nutritionist is expensive, but it’s money well spent. You have guys like LeBron James putting millions of dollars into their bodies. I wish I had that type of money. But this window is short—lot of professional athletes’ careers aren't that long. So anything that can help put me ahead in the game, it helps.

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