Kyle Kingsbury’s Study of Self

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The maxim “know thyself” has been preached by a spectrum of great minds, from Socrates to Bruce Lee. It carries the ring of spirituality, suggesting that one’s sense of self is developed from within, not from science, data or technology.

UFC light heavyweight contender Kyle Kingsbury knows more about himself than most fighters, but introspection is only a small part of how. A big part is the e-mails he gets from Victor Conte, the supplement supplier who did prison time in a steroid scandal that rocked professional sports six years ago. Conte regularly draws Kingsbury’s blood and sends off samples to a lab, where they are screened for a menu of nutrients and biochemicals.

The results land in Kingsbury’s inbox, lately about once a month but at one point weekly. They define when and how he trains, including for his bid Saturday to extend his current win streak to five against Stephan Bonnar at UFC 139 “Shogun vs. Hendo” at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

One test, a complete blood count (CBC), tells Kingsbury the concentration of white blood cells and lymphocytes in his blood, which indicate if his body is fighting off any infection and if he needs to dial it down in the gym. A creatine kinase (CK) reading tells him if there is too much metabolic waste in his blood -- an indication that he is overtraining. His zinc and magnesium levels tell him if he should up his dosage of ZMA, Conte’s trademark supplement that Kingsbury says bolsters the body’s natural production of testosterone and growth hormone.

“We’ve gotten to point now that I’m able to listen to my body,” Kingsbury tells Sherdog.com. “Thankfully, I don’t run into much trouble with overtraining like I did in the past. Don’t get me wrong; it’s fine to overtrain. The idea is to push your body past what it can do, and then give it the necessary time to recover. Then push it past what it can do [again] and give it the necessary time to recover.

“The problem is guys push it past and stay at that pace and continue to push their body, and it just continues to run them down,” he adds. “By the time they get to the fight, they haven’t peaked for the fight at all. They’re at their worst.”

Kingsbury is the only mixed martial artist who admittedly works with Conte, who also advises boxers Nonito Donaire and Zab Judah. In addition to blood screenings and supplementation, Conte’s program also includes hypoxic and sprint training to improve cardio. Conte founded the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative, or BALCO, in 1984 near Kingsbury’s hometown of San Jose, which became synonymous with doping in sports. Conte did four months in prison in the scandal for conspiracy to distribute steroids.

Despite past, his insights into the chemistry of the athletic body and his remorse over what took place have proven tempting to competitors looking for an edge. In an interview with the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Rewind,” Conte refers to his involvement with sports doping “a serious mistake” and “going down the slippery slope.”

Since doing time, Conte said he has returned to a focus on comprehensive testing of athletes and the development of individualized nutrition and supplement programs for them, none of his recommendations, he says, crossing the line into doping.

“The last four fights that I’ve worked with [Kingsbury], he’s been successful,” Conte says. “He’s beginning to understand that not every day of training can be a ‘green light’ day, that you have to get an adequate recovery interval after you have these very intense training days. He learns each and every time that he has an outing.”

The story of Kingsbury’s aligning with Conte involves, as many of his life’s more interesting stories do, his longtime friend, fellow MMA fighter and former professional wrestler Daniel Puder. Kingsbury and Puder were co-captains of their high school wrestling team at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, Calif. Puder was using Conte’s supplements and gave some to Kingsbury around the time he was preparing to audition for the eighth season of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

“I was, like, ‘Dude, this stuff works pretty good,’” Kingsbury recalls. “And he’s, like, ‘You’ll never guess who made it. Victor Conte makes it.’ And I was, like, ‘What are you talking about? Isn’t that guy in jail?’ And he said, ‘No, he only went to jail for a few months, but he’s back; he’s got this supplement company. He’s not too far from us.’”

Kingsbury had some reservations, but it would hardly be the first time he had followed Puder into a risky situation.

The pair once attended a house party in Cupertino, where they came upon two guys they had resolved to rough up the next time they crossed paths. Cupertino’s population is majority Asian, and an Asian gang that was sort of presiding over the party set the ground rules for the rumble that was about to commence. A leader from the gang agreed to keep the scrap a two-on-two affair, Kingsbury says.

“We go to fight and I glance over my shoulder and I see Puder run, because I see these guys pulling out golf clubs,” Kingsbury says. “Puder had this old Bronco where the glass would slide down in the back, and that was all the way down. He ran, he jumped in, turned on the thing, and I dove into the back while these guys were swinging golf clubs at us and took out his taillights. We would have taken some serious shots. It was bad.”

Kingsbury was clearly oriented toward fisticuffs, even if his real passion was football. He first visited the gym he trains at today, the American Kickboxing Academy, in 1999 as a junior in high school to get some training in during the football offseason. He also wrestled in high school to keep sharp, but all towards his goal of a university football scholarship.

He played football at Arizona State University and forewent wrestling there. The wrestling program, which has produced a slew of great wrestlers, from Dan Severn to Cain Velasquez, was not for part-timers. However, despite being a footballer, Kingsbury still shares a bond with ASU wrestling alumni. When ASU head wrestling coach Tom Ortiz has visited Velasquez to help him prepare for fights, he has also invited Kingsbury into the circle for some sharpening. Prior to linking with AKA, Kingsbury’s alma mater played a part in linking up with fellow alumni Ryan Bader, Aaron Simpson and C.B. Dollaway at Arizona Combat Sports, where Kingsbury was based for his first nine MMA fights.

The Arizona allegiance was tested when Kingsbury auditioned for Season 8 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” along with Bader. They had stuck together leading up to the qualifying fights, talking strategy and sharing meals. Kingsbury says both got a pang of uneasiness as it became clear they were to be pitted against each other in a fight to determine who made it into the tournament and who went home.

“I wanted to complain right then and there,” Kingsbury says. “Then it was, like, nah, there’s a lot of people that will jump in your shoes if you open your mouth. I do not want to be that guy that draws attention to himself for not wanting to fight a friend.”

So Bader and Kingsbury fought, the eventual season winner finishing his campmate with a second-round arm-triangle. Kingsbury still made it into the house due to an injury and was memorably named team leader by his coach, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. He lost to Krzysztof Soszynski via first-round armbar and then dropped a decision to Tom Lawlor at “The Ultimate Fighter 8” Finale, which that capped the season.

“Making it [into ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ house] is the most important part,” Kingsbury says of entrée into the Octagon. “I made it into the house and they saw something in me, and now I’m in the UFC. I didn’t win to get in, I didn’t win on the show and I didn’t win after the show, but they still kept me around and I’m very grateful for that. These guys who won to get into the house but were hurt and couldn’t continue on, they’re not in the UFC now.”

Kingsbury’s liabilities were evident: poor wrestling and submission defense. He had only been in a jiu-jitsu gi for four months before “The Ultimate Fighter” and had largely been reliant on his football-honed athleticism and power to win fights. He jumped to American Kickboxing Academy to improve, and though it was a hit financially, trainer Bob Cook requested that UFC matchmaker Joe Silva give Kingsbury time to address the discrepancies in his skills.

Cook’s request was granted, and Kingsbury had 11 months to develop before he was matched with Razak Al-Hassan at UFC 104, where his current win streak began. He has since focused on sharpening his muay Thai attacks and has been working with two sports psychologists ahead of the Bonnar fight.

“How I perform in this fight ... it’s not going to come down to if I’m able to land that killer shot or if I’m able to get the takedown or any of that kind of crap,” he says. “It’s going to be how relaxed I can stay, how calm and collected I can be in front of the home crowd.”

For an MMA fighter, such relaxation comes in large part from a confident sense of self. For Kingsbury, that sense is built up as much from tracking his magnesium levels as his jiu-jitsu progress. And anyone who helps him develop that sense, even if it is someone with a history like Conte’s, has a role in his quest.

“Obviously, people say, ‘You’re taking a big risk here working with a guy like that,’” Kingsbury says of Conte. “And it’s, like, ‘Dude, I’m not doing anything [illegal].’ It doesn’t matter if they test me more or less; it really doesn’t mean s--- to me. So the fact that this guy had a bum name before and he made some mistakes in the past, that doesn’t bother me. The fact that he can help me now, that’s something I’m interested in.”