The 31-year-old Trinidad stands a modest 5’9”. His upcoming bout at Cage Warriors 139 is a lightweight bout, but he’s made a career out of fighting in the featherweight division, and between camps, Trinidad isn’t able to train with the high-level fighters in his division.
While Trinidad’s featherweight counterparts are comfortably walking around at 165-175 pounds, he’s consistently north of 200 pounds.
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“My face doesn’t get as big as Paddy’s,” Trinidad laughed. “He looks like he’s got two faces, but for comparison, I wear a size small during fight week and I fit snug in a size large when I’m out of camp.”
Trinidad would go on to explain that his jumps in weight that take him from a size 28 waist to size 36 aren’t attributed to genetics or a slow metabolism; it all stems from an irrational fear he’s had since middle school.
“You know how you see limited edition foods or beers and sodas or anything that’s edible, really?” Trinidad asked. “I fear that I’m going to miss that window and I’m never going to try it.”
The fear was birthed when he was 13 years old. When Jack in the Box pulled the plug on the Chicken Supremes he loved, it planted a new anxiety in his head and every fight camp it rears its ugly head.
“Since then I’ve always felt that all of my favorite foods are going to go away,” Trinidad explained. “I’m addicted to California Burritos, and my biggest fear is that when I’m cutting weight like the eight weeks or six weeks or however long I’m cutting weight that it’s going to be banned from the U.S. and I’ll never get to eat it again.”
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It’s been an issue every fight camp for Trinidad, but with help from his nutritionist and only one weight miss in his entire career, Trinidad will likely continue pulling the ripcord after every fight. There may be a day he keeps his diet in check between camps, but what if California Burritos shuts down?
It just isn’t worth the risk.
“This training camp and weight cut sucked. I need to start eating better and do this and start walking around smaller, but then two days after the fight I’m walking around at like 190, eating food day in and day out,” Trinidad said. “I think I’ve gotten that under control now, especially working with new nutritionists and getting everything dialed in. Everything’s under control now. People ask me how I cut that much weight, and only the wrestlers will understand that I just have to, so I have no choice.”
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