A Montana Look Inside the UFC’s Vegas Performance Institute

Our coverage brought to you by the Fusion Fight League. They just had their Fusion Fights in Great Falls- Bozeman and Billings are right around the corner. 

A crew of Montanans tagged along with Anthem Snacks, the official jerky of UFC, to attend UFC 300 in Las Vegas. We also got to get an inside look at UFC's Performance Institute facility.

Dawn Kelly is a registered dietician, nutritionist, and a performance dietitian at UFC's Performance Institute. She gave us a great tour through their facility, starting with the ground floor and how important diet and conditioning is.

Dawn Kelley: "That's where we have the nutrition diagnostics. We have sports medicine, sports science, strength and conditioning. That's where we can really develop athletes as a whole. And then on the upstairs floor is where we have our MMA (mixed martial arts) training center. That's where we have the octagons, the heavy bags, they've got to get to everything that they need to be a complete MMA fighter."

When you walk through the facility, you can really tell there is so much more into getting into that octagon and fighting in the UFC than even just being a good fighter.

Dawn Kelley: "They are a martial artist, they're an athlete, and they're a fighter. We have people walk through the door- they're fighters, but they're not really athletes. Or they're a martial artist, but they're not really a fighter. So it really depends on their mentality, their training, their discipline, and who they are as a person to really hit all three of those marks."

Photos from the trip are below. Click here for more of our coverage, including an upcoming piece looking at the UFC fight itself.

Here's what was really cool. Not only is Anthem Snacks the official jerky of UFC, it's what UFC actually has on hand for their fighters at their nutritional snack bar.

Big thanks also to Willie's Distillery, Tatanka Cigars (Rocky Mountain Liquor), and Knockout Lifestyle with Corey Willis for sponsoring our UFC coverage!