ABU DHABI – Dustin Poirier has had one of the most successful weight division transitions in the UFC.

Since moving up to lightweight, he’s gone 9-1 and captured the interim title in his last outing, when he defeated Max Holloway at UFC 236.

Poirier, a former featherweight, will get an opportunity to unify the 155-pound championship when he takes on Khabib Nurmagomedov on Saturday in the main event of UFC 242. Poirier’s been working with Lockhart & Leith for years now as he heads into the biggest fight of his career.

MMA Junkie caught up with Poirier’s nutritionist for this camp, Eric Pena, to discuss “The Diamond’s” weight cut ahead of UFC 242.

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and your relationship with Dustin Poirier.

Pena: I have been working as a chef/weight cut specialist under George Lockhart and Dan Leith for about a year-and-a-half now. As a former wrestler who has cut weight many times myself, I understand the process through experience. I live in Miami, about an hour south of American Top Team where Dustin does his camps. In between assigned fight weeks, I continue my work as an intern under Phil Daru (strength and conditioning coach for Dustin and many other top athletes in the gym) where I continue to gain experience and knowledge about Dustin’s energy expenditure and much more. Daru introduced me to Dustin while Poirier was preparing for Nate (Diaz), where we kicked it off and the rest is history. It has been an absolute pleasure working with Poirier. I look forward to our future work together.

How much does Poirier typically weigh on fight night?

Pena: I’m estimating that Dustin will most likely be stepping into the octagon at around 175 pounds come Saturday night.

Has this week been any different than past fight weeks? Is Poirier heavier or lighter than usual?

Pena: He’s much lighter this week than normal. I’ve been feeding him for the past two-and-a-half weeks, and we have been able to slowly bring down the weight to make this cut easier for him. He will be at peak performance both mentally and physically when he enters the cage.

How is the balance of losing fat vs. water measured specific for Poirier to achieve his peak performance?

Pena: This cut was a little different than most in terms of water vs. fat loss for a number of reasons. One, being that we are traveling halfway across the world for this fight, we weren’t sure how travel and the difference in resources out here would affect the ease of this weight cut. Second, reason for the difference in the amount of water we plan to cut for this fight is his opponent and the style of fight we are planning to bring. Dustin will need to be in the best shape of his life for this fight. He has 25 minutes to make life fair. His cardio, quickness and his ability to be light on his feet will play more of a role than ever.

Does Poirier have a specific diet throughout camp, or does it keep changing?

Pena: George (Lockhart) and I have been monitoring Dustin’s diet through the entire 10-week camp. We have been in constant communication with a sponsor of his, who takes care of his meal prep. Everything has been tailored specifically for what he needs and when he needs it. We are constantly tweaking macronutrients, micronutrients, supplements, and water intake in accordance to his travel and training schedule, changes in his weight/body fat percentage, performance, recovery, and time left until the fight.

Do you prefer sauna or Epsom salt baths for cutting weight?

Pena: We at Lockhart & Leith recommend baths over any other method of cutting weight, but we do not use Epsom salt in any of our baths. Salts/alcohols can alter the osmolality of the bath water and thus start to draw water out of the skin and other organs, which don’t seem to have a high risk/reward ratio in terms of how uncomfortable it makes the fighter feel vs. how little water weight is held in places like the skin, which these salts and alcohols mostly effect. Salts and alcohols may also cause uncomfortable smells, which may be detrimental in the long run, especially when fighters are trying to achieve a certain weight by dehydration. We recommend the bath to all weight-cutting athletes because it is the easiest to control all the necessary factors. However, with veterans like Dustin who don’t need to cut much water weight, we take strong consideration to the fighters preference. Dustin has been cutting weight using the sauna for almost his entire career and feels best when we are in the sauna, so sauna it is.