UFC 58 Fight Preparations: Rich Franklin vs. David Loiseau

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

There’s a saying that goes, “Nothing wins more than superior preparation”, and more specifically to martial arts, “the more I sweat in training, the less I bleed in the ring” (or in this case, the Octagon).

Although most people interested in mixed martial arts would rather watch, read and hear about the fights and the results, I personally like finding out how each fighter prepares for their upcoming fights.  There are many aspects to training in marital arts, and among them is strength training and conditioning.

David Loiseau has been training at the Poliquin Performance Center in Montreal to prepare for his fight with Rich Franklin at UFC 58.

For those of you who don’t know, the Poliquin Performance Center is headed and founded by Charles Poliquin, a strength training and conditioning “guru”.  He’s worked with NFL, NHL, and Olympic athletes. (Check out his bio here: http://www.charlespoliquin.com/poliquin.php)

According to the website, Loiseau is being trained by Marc André Duval and Eric Falstrault.  It doesn’t look like Loiseau is being trained by Charles Poliquin himself, but I’m sure they’re still using the famed “Poliquin Principals”.

Here’s what the guys at Poliquin Performance in Montreal had to say about David Loiseau:

David trains mainly to increase his strength and explosiveness but without raising his bodyweight in order to make his weight category.

David trains 3-4 times a week. His resistance training is coordinated with his technical training sessions. His system is designed this way to ensure that he is not exposed to too much training volume and overtraining.

David follows a strict but healthy nutritional and Biosignature program in order for him to keep his muscle mass and stay at a very low body fat %.

And…Here’s David Loiseau’s Comments:

As an ultimate fighter, it is vital to maintain a specific body weight. With the direction and advice of the Poliquin Performance Center in Montréal, I was given a specialized training program, diet and supplementation plan that would allow me lose the maximum amount of body fat without losing my hard earned muscle mass.

They made me realize that, by losing muscle, it would impede my stamina, speed, and reaction time. In just two weeks, I lost 6% body fat, gained 10 pounds of lean muscle mass and I feel stronger and faster than ever.

Anything is possible as long as you fall into the right hands. Without their influence, I would not be the dedicated athlete I am today.

There’s a sample workout of Loiseau’s training, but it only shows a couple of exercises.

If you watched UFC: All Access, you’ll see that Rich Franklin training is pretty hardcore, especially that non-stop weight lifting circuit. (Check out the summary at ValeTudo.com).

Mike Ferguson from the Power Station Gym (the trainer leading Rich Franklin’s circuit training hell in UFC: All Access) has a philosophy that Rich needs strength and endurance, and since UFC rounds are 5 rounds at 5 minutes each, Rich should train at 10 rounds at 5 or 10 minutes each!  I don’t know if the coaches at Poliquin Performance Center will agree to that philosophy though (or recommend their athletes use XYIENCE…does that stuff even work??)

Nevertheless, I’m sure both Rich Franklin and David Loiseau are going to come out in tip top shape tonight.  Good luck to both fighters!