Main Event was built in collaboration with the nutrition experts at the UFC Performance Institute. It wasn’t designed around a single claim like “high protein” or “low sugar” while making trade-offs elsewhere. Instead, each ingredient was carefully selected to serve a purpose, and the full formulation works as a system to support performance, recovery, and sustained energy. 

What sets it apart:

• Protein: 20g high-quality protein, primarily milk protein and whey, to support muscle growth and repair, and help keep you full. 
• Fiber: 5g soluble, prebiotic fiber from chicory root and cassava root to support fullness, digestive health, and long-term health. 
• Sweeteners: Primarily allulose, a naturally occurring sugar that tastes like real sugar but has minimal calories and does not spike blood sugar.  
• Fats: Cocoa butter and coconut oil for a stable, high-quality fat base that helps provide optimal texture and flavor.
• Functional ingredients: Tart cherry extract (200mg) for post-exercise recovery and L-theanine (100mg) from green tea extract to support focused attention under pressure. 
• Calcium: About 30% of the daily value per bar, which may help replenish calcium losses from sweat during intense or prolonged exercise and support overall bone health. No other bar comes close.

What's left out: Artificial sweeteners. Sugar alcohols. Seed oils. Soy protein. If an ingredient causes GI distress, tastes bad, or offers no unique benefits, we passed.

Each Main Event bar contains 20g of high-quality protein, providing all 9 essential amino acids the body can’t produce on its own. We chose 20g for a reason. Research suggests eating 20–40g of high-quality protein every 3–4 hours can help maximize muscle protein synthesis (MPS), the process of building and repairing muscle.

With 20g protein and 200 calories, Main Event also has a killer protein-to-calorie ratio. It delivers enough protein to help keep you satisfied for several hours without too many calories. Eating more protein per calorie helps UFC fighters meet their protein needs while hitting strict weight targets — and it may benefit anyone looking to build or maintain muscle, manage hunger, and improve body composition.

Primarily milk protein isolate, milk protein concentrate, and whey protein concentrate. These are considered high-quality proteins — easily digested, efficiently absorbed, and rich in all 9 essential amino acids (EAAs) needed for muscle protein synthesis (MPS).

Many plant proteins are incomplete in EAAs and don't stimulate MPS as efficiently on a gram-for-gram basis. Milk and whey proteins are also naturally rich in the amino acid leucine, which plays a key role in MPS. 

Main Event includes a small amount of collagen peptides which gives our nougat its soft, smooth texture. Collagen lacks tryptophan and is low in other EAAs. That's why it makes up the smallest share of our 20g protein total, about 2g per bar.

Main Event’s Functional Performance Blend combines 200mg of tart cherry extract and 100mg of L-theanine (from green tea extract). These ingredients were chosen by the nutrition experts at the UFC Performance Institute because they can help boost physical and mental performance and speed recovery. 

Tart cherry extract packs antioxidants that can help reduce inflammation caused by hard training. Research suggests that 480mg per day around periods of intense exercise may reduce muscle soreness, lower markers of inflammation, and speed recovery. The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) considers tart cherry a top dietary antioxidant for recovery and recommends 200–500mg as a supplemental dose for athletes. At 200mg per bar, Main Event serves as a solid starting point.

L-theanine is a non-protein amino acid found in tea leaves. Some studies suggest 100mg (the amount in one Main Event bar) improves focused attention and reaction time. It may work by increasing alpha brain waves associated with relaxed focus and support calming neurotransmitter activity in the brain.

Main Event is the only mainstream protein bar with meaningful amounts of both ingredients.

Two reasons: They contain zero grams of sugar alcohols and they contain just the right amount of fiber. 

Many sugar alcohols aren’t well absorbed by the intestines, which can lead to bloating, abdominal pain, gas, and diarrhea. Main Event primarily uses the low-calorie sweetener allulose, which is easier to absorb and considered more GI-friendly.

Main Event also hits the sweet spot for fiber content — 5g per bar. Enough to support fullness and feelings of sustained energy. Typically not enough to trigger gas, bloating, and GI distress, which is more likely to occur with higher doses of added fibers.

You should eat Main Event whenever it works for you — before your workout, after your workout, or as a convenient snack between meals. Timing matters less than people think.

When you train — especially with resistance or high-intensity exercise — you temporarily increase muscle protein breakdown and make your muscles more sensitive to amino acids. That means protein becomes especially useful around training because your body is primed to use it for repair and adaptation.

This is what people sometimes call the “anabolic window,” once thought to be a narrow 30–60 minute period after exercise. Research now shows it’s a much wider window and you don’t have to be as strategic about perfect post-workout protein timing. What matters most is your total daily protein intake and how you distribute it across the day.

The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) recommends 20–40g of protein every 3–4 hours as a practical strategy to support muscle protein synthesis. At 20g per bar, Main Event fits easily into that pattern — whether you have it before training, after, or between meals.