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UFC's Cummo: Eat, drink and be scary

Luke Cummo of New Hyde Park kicks the heavy bag while training. (Photo courtesy of Zuffa LLC)

BY KATIE STRANG | caitlin.strang@newsday.com

6:56 PM EST, March 1, 2008

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Ultimate Fighter Luke Cummo knows his lifestyle and dietary tendencies may seem a little, well, unorthodox.

His health regiment consists of a strict diet, nutritional fasting and a rather unusual choice of beverage. It's actually a hydration method called urine therapy. And, yes, he drinks it.

Cummo's unique approach to eating, living, and training may baffle some, others might wonder if he's onto something.

Since embarking on the LifeFood health routine, a vegetarian diet which consists of eating easily-digestible fruits, vegetables, and nuts, routine olive oil flushes to clear bile stones, and urine therapy, the 27 year-old New Hyde Park native is 2-0 against his last two UFC opponents. Both victories came by way of knockout. He's hoping Luigi Fioravanti, an Iraq veteran and fighter with a professional MMA record of 12-3-0 will be his next victim, Saturday at UFC 82 in Columbus, Ohio.

"The way I feel training on LifeFood, it gives me such an edge," Cummo said. "There are guys out there doing their steroids and growth hormones and whatever else, but I think what I'm doing is better."

When Cummo arrives for workouts at strength and conditioning coach Michael Jocson's home gym in Howard Beach, Jocson puts him through rigorous-timed exercises like resistance wood chops, kettle bells, and sumo dead-lifts. When they finish 30 minutes of circuit work, Cummo and Jocson head into the kitchen and exchange stories of recent recipes they've tried while following the LifeFood diet. Cummo boasts about a 60-pound tub of raw buckwheat honey he bought over the Internet, Jocson about a special concoction his wife had recently discovered. Since seeing the effect Cummo's diet had on his training and temperament, Jocson has tried a less-rigorous version of the diet.

"He was consistently in a better mood. More light and cheery, which is odd for a fighter," Jocson said.

Cummo, who made it to the finals on The Ultimate Fighter season two reality television show, embodies just about everything "odd for a fighter." His trajectory into the world of MMA was unconventional-after several unsuccessful academic endeavors (art school, community college, etc.) Cummo, while working as a cabdriver, drove past Ray Longo's gym and decided to give it a try. He doesn't exude aggression, anger, or any affinity for violence, but instead a calm, contemplative, methodical approach to his life as well as his livelihood in the ring. He looks more like an earthy, nouveau-hippie grad student than a beefy, muscle-bound fighter. And his social consciousness adds a layer of depth to his persona as a vicious competitor inside the Octagon. One of the reasons Cummo is so fond of his new diet is that it encourages food choices for a sustainable future, a way, Cummo said, for people to "vote with their dollar."

"Most fighters, they see guys that are different as a weakness," Jocson said, but once most opponents see Cummo's recent results and performances, that judgment quickly dissipates. "They're not dumb enough to bank on that." And if they are, that's all right with Cummo. He knows he doesn't meet the pre-existing notions of what a fighter should look, act, and eat like. In fact, he relishes the differences that set him apart.

"If other fighters think what I'm doing is less than excellent and they just want to stay away from that, that's fine by me, because they're going to be the ones I'm fighting and I can keep my secrets," Cummo said. "I think that just kind of works in my favor. If you're ever in a fight and someone takes you lightly, all you really need is that one split second of hesitation and it can turn in your favor."

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