The bell goes. The fighter drops onto the stool. A cornerman tilts a clear plastic bottle into his mouth; he swills it around — and spits most of it straight back into a bucket.
Sixty seconds later he’s back up. He barely swallowed a thing.
So what’s actually in the bottle, why does so little of it go down, and is it really water only? That last one is the bit almost everybody gets wrong.
What Do UFC/MMA Fighters Drink Between Rounds?
UFC/MMA fighters drink water between rounds, and — contrary to popular belief — they’re also permitted electrolyte drinks. The Nevada State Athletic Commission explicitly approves products such as Pedialyte, Gatorade, Powerade, Vitaminwater, Smartwater and Propel in the corner.
Energy drinks and soft drinks are banned. Most fighters, however, barely swallow any of it: they rinse and spit, because a stomach full of liquid is a liability when you’re about to get punched in it, and because nothing you drink in a 60-second break will be absorbed in time to help you anyway.
Are UFC Fighters Only Allowed to Drink Water Between Rounds?
No. This is one of the most widely repeated myths in the sport, and it’s wrong.
Ask on any MMA forum, and you’ll be told with total confidence that commissions permit water and nothing else. In reality, athletic commissions maintain an approved list, and it’s broader than people think.
What Are UFC Fighters Allowed to Drink Between Rounds?
UFC fighters are allowed to drink water and electrolyte drinks between rounds. Most simply choose not to.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission — the body that regulates most major UFC events — states that approved electrolyte drinks include Pedialyte, Vitaminwater, Smartwater, Gatorade, Powerade and Propel.
What Are UFC Fighters Not Allowed to Drink Between Rounds?
UFC fighters aren’t allowed to drink energy drinks or soft drinks between rounds. No Red Bull. No Monster. No cola.
The logic is straightforward: an electrolyte solution replaces what a fighter has sweated out. A high-caffeine energy drink is a stimulant, and stimulants sit in awkward territory in a regulated combat sport.
Why UFC Fighters’ Drinks Between Rounds Must Be See-Through
UFC fighters’ drinks between rounds must be see-through because officials need to see what’s going into a fighter’s mouth.
The Unified Rules require the promoter to supply each corner with a water bucket and a clear plastic water bottle.
Many promotions go further and hand out sealed bottles, so there’s no opportunity to tamper with the contents beforehand.
That rule exists for a reason — and the reason is one of the darkest stories in combat sports.
The Water Bottle Scandal That Changed Everything
In November 1982, Aaron Pryor fought Alexis Argüello in a light welterweight title fight billed as The Battle of the Champions. It’s still regarded as one of the greatest fights ever staged.
Pryor was taking a beating. Then, between the thirteenth and fourteenth rounds, television cameras caught his trainer, Panama Lewis, telling an assistant to hand him a different bottle — not the one he’d been using, but the one he had mixed himself.
Pryor came out for the fourteenth round transformed and knocked Argüello out cold.
What was in that bottle has never been established. Panama Lewis was later banned from boxing for life over a separate incident — removing the padding from a fighter’s gloves.
It has haunted combat sports ever since, and it’s why a modern corner is handed a transparent bottle that anybody in the building can look straight through.
Why Do UFC Fighters Spit the Water Out?
Watch closely, and you’ll see most UFC fighters take a mouthful, swill it, and spit it into a bucket. Very little actually goes down. There are three reasons for that: avoiding a full stomach, it not being useful, and to get rid of cottonmouth.
1. A full stomach is a target
A fighter is about to spend five minutes being punched, kneed, and kicked in the midsection. Doing that with a stomach full of sloshing liquid invites nausea, cramping and vomiting.
Ask anyone who has ever taken a body shot after drinking too much water. It is a mistake you make once.
2. It wouldn’t work in time anyway
This is the part people don’t realise. For exercise lasting under roughly 30 minutes, drinking fluid mid-effort does very little — the body simply cannot absorb and use it fast enough for it to matter.
A three-round fight is fifteen minutes of actual competition. Even a five-round championship bout is twenty-five. Anything a fighter swallows in round two is not going to be doing useful work by round three. The hydration battle was won or lost days earlier.
Which is exactly why the real fight for a fighter’s fluid balance happens during the weight cut and the rehydration window afterwards — something we’ve covered in how UFC fighters cut weight.
3. Cottonmouth
What water in the corner is genuinely good for is the mouth itself. Heavy exertion, adrenaline and a gumshield produce thick, sticky saliva that makes breathing feel harder than it is.
A rinse and a spit clears it. That’s not hydration — it’s housekeeping. And it’s the single biggest reason you see that bottle at all.
Do UFC Fighters Swallow Any Water Between Rounds?
Plenty of fighters take a small swallow — a mouthful, not a gulp — particularly deep into a five-round fight or in a hot arena. Others swallow nothing for twenty-five minutes.
There’s a psychological component too. Fighters have said the water is as much about the ritual and the reset as it is about the fluid. Sixty seconds isn’t long, and the swill-and-spit is part of the routine that tells the body the round is over.
UFC: Allowed vs Banned in the Corner
| Item | Allowed? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Water | Yes | In a clear plastic bottle |
| Electrolyte drinks | Yes | Pedialyte, Gatorade, Powerade and similar are approved |
| Energy drinks | No | Banned in the corner |
| Soft drinks | No | Banned in the corner |
| Vaseline | Yes | Face only — never the body |
| Enswell / ice | Yes | Standard cutman equipment |
FAQs
Can UFC fighters drink Gatorade between rounds?
Yes. Nevada’s athletic commission lists Gatorade among the approved electrolyte drinks for the corner. Most fighters stick to water by choice, not by rule.
Why do UFC fighters spit water out instead of swallowing?
Because a stomach full of liquid makes body shots far worse, and because fluid drunk mid-fight cannot be absorbed quickly enough to help in a bout lasting under half an hour. The rinse is mainly to clear thick saliva.
Can UFC fighters drink Red Bull or Monster in the corner?
No. Energy drinks and soft drinks are specifically not permitted in the corner.
Why does the water bottle have to be clear?
So officials can see exactly what a fighter is being given. The rule traces back to the 1982 Pryor–Argüello fight, where a trainer was filmed swapping in a bottle he had mixed himself.
How long do UFC fighters get between rounds?
Sixty seconds. In that time the corner has to hydrate, treat cuts, reduce swelling, cool the fighter down and change the game plan.
Do UFC fighters get oxygen between rounds?
It is not part of a standard UFC corner setup. What you’ll actually see is water, ice, Vaseline and a cutman — not an oxygen mask.
To Conclude
The honest answer is that the bottle matters far less than it looks like it does.
Fighters can legally take electrolyte drinks, not just water — whatever the forums tell you. Most don’t bother, because in a fight lasting under half an hour there is no meaningful hydration to be won, and a full stomach is a genuine liability.
So they rinse, they spit, and they get back up. The water is for the mouth and for the ritual. The fight was already hydrated, or it wasn’t, long before either man walked to the cage.
