The bane of any weight cut is the thought of the food a fighter is missing out on. While this is true of just about every athlete, it’s even worse for those making the cut down to a new weight class. 

Although she was the champion of The Ultimate Fighter’s first female featherweight season, Macy Chiasson wasted no time dropping to bantamweight. With the hunger pangs setting in prior to Friday’s weigh-inf or UFC 235, Chiasson insists that she still feels great physically. 

“Of course I would love to eat a burger or a pizza,” Chiasson laughed when speaking with the Top Turtle MMA Podcast on FloCombat. “But as far as performance goes, I’m feeling so good and I’ve just been feeding my body with the right nutrients.”

A lot of that good feeling can be attributed to the growing number of people she turns to for help with her nutrition. This includes not only her team, but also the UFC’s increased focus on the matter as well. 

“Working with the UFC Performance Institute and my coach Sayif [Saud] at Fortis MMA—we’ve had such an amazing camp,” she said. “I’m feeling so good. I’m feeling really strong, faster than ever. I’m super lean right now and happy-go-lucky.”

And while she’s plenty happy right now, she’ll certainly feel better after the victory. The New Orleans native has fortunate timing with her fight coming just days before the start of Mardi Gras. 

“Definitely after the fight I’m flying back home to New Orleans for Mardi Gras with my family," Chiasson said. "I’m looking to eat a few po’boys here or there—you know, reward myself for the long-term work I was putting in.”

After her sandwiches, she’ll waste no time getting to the classics of New Orleans desserts, taking extra advantage of the timing of it all. 

“I am a beignet person, but it’s not my go-to,” Chiasson said. “King cake, right now, is out, and that’s definitely going to be a dessert for me.”

While this means she won’t be under her weight limit for long, she’s surprised that she could ever make it there. It was not something she had planned for herself, mostly because of her frame. 

“I never imagined that I was gonna move down to 135,” she said. “I thought physically I wouldn’t be able to get there.”

However, she notes that her weight is on point and she expects to sweat out the last few pounds with plenty of time to go before the weigh-ins Friday—po’boys be damned.