in the run up to his much-anticipated heavyweight bout in Saudi Arabia on May 18, Tyson Fury has dropped a serious amount of weight and released some pretty impressive transformation photos over the past months. With the Usyk face off just days away, Fury is confident in getting his hand raised, a confidence which is undoubtedly attributed to his newly lean physique.
Keen to understand what has exactly changed to cause the dramatic results, Men’s Health sat down with Fury’s nutritionist, Greg Marriott.
Marriott in the man in charge, who has overhauled Fury’s diet to ensure he will be in peak condition for the weekend bout. Want to know some of the foods that have built the lean mean fighting machine? Well, expect to find sausages and Dijon mustard on the menu.Marriott has a wealth of experience in the field of combat sports, and possesses particular expertise in coaching Tyson Fury – physically and psychologically. He began working with the heavyweight back in 2018 and plays a key part in Fury’s daily routine, even waking him up in the morning.
I do absolutely everything, I wake him up with his collagen,’ says Marriott. ‘I don’t leave fighters to anything. I literally live with him. I sit with him. I make sure that I watch him take the vitamins. I don’t want no stone unturned. For me, I give them 100% so I do everything.’
Tyson Fury’s Diet
Marriott’s job is to make sure that Fury will be on top of his game for training. He does this by ensuring that he has adequate fuel to power him through his sessions, but that he can also hit his fat loss goals. Below you’ll find Tyson Fury’s daily diet plan, which he told us, won’t have changed much during fight camp.
Rest days: 3000 calories
Training days: 4500-6000 calories
- Upon waking: High dose vitamin C, collagen and black coffee.
- Breakfast: Two slices of sourdough toast, avocado butter spread with fresh garlic tabasco and black pepper. Three full eggs. Fresh plum tomatoes and about 250 g of lean beef mince made into sausages. Or, oatmeal and protein with fresh nuts and chia seeds. Or, a big omelette
- Mid morning snack post gym: Protein granola, fat free greek yogurt and blueberries.
- Lunch: Two chicken breasts, 125 grams of rice. Greek feta salad.
- Mid-afternoon: Five rice cakes, natural peanut butter and a side of watermelon. Whey protein beef isolate.
- Dinner: 500 grams of potatoes (small roasted and seasoned). Big 400 gram filet steak. Dijon mustard. Roasted veg: broccoli, asparagus and beetroot.
- 8pm: Fat free Greek yoghurt, peanut butter and vanilla essence
- Other Supplements: Dextrin carb powder, magnesium, Atlantic fish oil
According to Marriott, Fury’s favourite meal is sausages with a healthy(ish) twist, ‘He loves sausages. Obviously, he’s old school British. They’re just lean beef, they look like sausages but they’re not.’
Marriott also needs to get enough vegetables into Fury’s diet – a job easier said than done. ‘He’s not a vegetable lover,’ says Marriott. ‘So I try to hide them.’
What about cheat meals? Does he let Fury off the straight and narrow from time to time? ‘Every boxer I work with has cheat meals,’ says Marriott. ‘It just mentally does something to them, they look forward to it, but he’s not demanding, you know, big dirty meals.’
Marriott has also been trying to get Fury to eat more frequently. Whereas previously he’d only eat one or two meals a day, now, thanks to Marriott, he’s eating up to six meals a day. It’s this kind of hard work that goes on behind the scenes which is helping Fury get in the best shape of life. ‘He’ll be on 45oo to 6000 calories a day for this camp,’ says Marriot. ‘I can promise you, you’re gonna see a different Tyson Fury.’
So how has Marriott kept Fury to such a tight routine? Well, according to the nutritionist, it appears to have been relatively easy: ‘Whatever I tell Tyson to do, he just adheres to it. He puts 100% trust in me. So for Tyson really, there is no challenges because he knows he’ll be in peak condition. He’s been there, done it and got the t-shirts.
‘I’ve worked with so many athletes over years in and out of boxing, and Tyson Fury is one of the most disciplined athletes physically and mentally when it comes to his diet. For a heavyweight, this is unheard of. He won’t eat nothing unless I say so. He’s ultra-disciplined, in every aspect of life. So when it comes to discipline, he’s quite OCD about things.’
