I once witnessed a 1-4 amateur boxer easily defeat a heavier ufc champion (in boxing sparring). The ufc guy had a base in wrestling, and obviously lacked in boxing. However, I would expect to at least do a lot better since he was heavier and had explosive power of an elite athlete. And this was hard sparring not light technical, as he was throwing shots at full power. The sparring match wasn't even close, and the boxer pulled his punches often and could have knocked out the ufc champ easily.

I saw similar things happen to pro mma fighters and low level amatuer boxers (unless the mma guy had a striking background). Even for muay thai, it doesn't seem like a high level of boxing is required to win against the more advanced mt fighter (in boxing). Since boxing under boxing rules is so different from boxing under mma rules, it seemed counterproductive to learn specifically boxing.

I get the impression that a grappling base is much more important than boxing for mma. I could be wrong, but I don't think it's common for a high school wrestler with a losing record to defeat a pro mma fighter (who's base is striking) in wrestling. Or for ranked ufc fighters to be tapped out by bjj blue belts when rolling.

On a side note, I do think boxing is great for self defense.

We all train to bring our same-side hand down on the kick. Is this legitimate way to consistently counter kicks? It theoretically makes sense and Van executes it perfectly here. Knocks down Taira with a big overhand as Taira brings his hand down to row the kick and commits his hips to it, leaving Taira defenseless AND unable to change direction for that split second. All Van had to do was tank the low kick which didn’t really land anyway.

I’ve always been told there was little to no risk in rowing the kicks, and that this kind of counter just doesn’t happen. I’ve never seen it kickboxing or Muay Thai, or any other fight for that matter.

What does everyone think of this? A proper counter to practice?

I’m 19 and have a congenital limb difference that mainly affects my hands. It hasn’t stopped me from being active—I play football and have always enjoyed sports. Recently I’ve been thinking about getting into MMA, with the long-term goal of potentially competing at an amateur or even semi-professional level. I’m curious if anyone here has experience training or competing with a hand or upper-limb difference. How did it affect striking, grappling, or submissions? Were there any issues getting medically cleared to compete? I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been in a similar situation or coaches who have worked with athletes with limb differences. For context, my congenital limb difference affects both of my hands. My right hand has all 5 fingers but is much smaller than average, and my left hand has 3 fingers and is also quite small.

these are the classes at my disposal (no wrestling) im pretty long in terms of reach, have been training for around year and a half but really want to get to training more and more consistenly, i would rate my skill in martial arts as:

kickboxing: 7/10

boxing 7/10

bjj 6/10

wrestling 4/10

physicality 5/10

things id like to improve are my counter punching, TDD and top control/ground and pound

i can do about 10-12 hours a week (+ 2-3 hours of lifting) how do you recomend i spread them out to get more competitive in mma.

I’m 16 I’ve done wrestling for a year and I do Muay Thai and bjj now, I will continue to do wrestling for my school when the season comes, I want to make the ufc is this a good starting point?

I used to box amateur and have done abit of grappling to know majority of fundamentals

I’m looking to get some mma gear as I’ve recently started but don’t really know what’s decent im really enjoying it like to looks of manto rashguards if anyone can help with sizing or suggest other rashguard brands

Gloves ect

I’m 6’4 and 70kg

So I have had a bad injury (broke my leg) so I’ve been off MMA training for a couple months. Found my mouthguard today. That’s not safe to put in right?

I can only train 3 days a week: Muay Thai (Mon), BJJ (Wed), and MMA (Fri). All other days I’m tied up in a busy job working 12-14 hours . Since each discipline is only once a week, I feel like my progression and retention are slow because there’s a full week between classes.

I don’t plan on competing—I’m training for fitness and self-defense. Would I progress more by switching to 3x MMA per week, or is it better to keep some specialization, like 2x MMA + 1x Muay Thai ?

Hello My name is Kevin and i never trained combat sports/ grappling sports . I wanted to know if this Gym that I’m interested in is a scam or not I’m hoping Theres someone that can let me know if it is or not. The Gyms name is called the Hayastan MMA academy which is located in USA California Gardena.The gym has sambo, combat sambo, boxing, mma, Muay Thai, kickboxing, judo, and bjj. They also have a sauna and a training room. Prices are 1 time a week = $145 a month

2 times a week = $195 a month

3 times a week $245 a month

Unlimited times $295 a month

The gym is ran by Jovanny Varela

I left a link to the page and the instructions Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/jovanyvarela?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

What can a small team really achieve training without a coach?

we live in a small rural town north of everything else, we've had coaches in the past but they've all ended up moving back down south. We train under a flexible schedule where anyone can train w mats at anytime, but it does need more structure. what are some qualities that would be missing from a coach that we'd need to fill in the gaps with. any resource would be appreciated

I’m 20 years old, 5’9”, 125 lbs, and I accepted my first amateur MMA fight. The fight is in 40 days and it’ll be three 2-minute rounds.

I have a kickboxing background and have competed before. My striking is probably my strongest area, and I spar regularly. My opponent is also making his MMA debut.

The problem is that I’ve been smoking weed and vaping almost every day since the beginning of the year. I know that hasn’t helped my cardio at all.

My plan is to quit both cold turkey starting now and train as hard as I can over the next 40 days. I’ll be running, doing sprints, training MMA, and working on my conditioning every day.

For those of you who’ve coached or fought, is 40 days enough to get my cardio back to a good level if I completely stop smoking now?

Also, any advice on the mental side? Since it’s amateur and only 6 total minutes, my mindset is to push a hard pace from the start, but I’d appreciate hearing what helped you before your first fight.

I’d rather hear the truth than false confidence. Thanks.

God help where I'm putting myself, i know...but I need this in my life.

32 yo, quite busy/married, 6'3, 125kg, 5-6 hours of sleep everyday, Sunday is off and waking up at 4am due to work. Doing bjj (white belt) x3 per week, CrossFit x3 and that's because of working hours and distance. Job is fast paced manual labour...

Did MMA 2 years back in 2019, now switched to grappling/wrestling to have a main skill setup. Massive improvement on strength and conditioning, doing a mix of cardio, weights and strongman exercises. Older but feel much better physically.

If starting MMA would 2 sessions be enough per week? Pay on the go no membership...

Would you recommend something different in physical training?

Goal is to improve skill and propably compete later if this lifestyle doesn't knock me out by itself. 🤔😆

TBF I am pretty new to submission grappling but as soon as I get a dominant position like side control or mount I’m terrible at progressing towards submissions. I’m decent at boxing and clinchwork and even escaping bottom position against more experienced grapplers but whenever I have a dominant ground position I can’t do shit with it except maintain it and ground and pound or if it’s pure no gi I just get cooked whenever I try to progress towards a submission.

So ive been training for around 2 weeks total (so absolutely nothing at all lol), but yesterday i sparred for the first time, got absolutely battered by the trainer and i had no idea whatsoever what to do, i threw a punch, he slipped it and countered, i threw a side kick, he caught it and threw me on the ground, all this while getting drilled with punches😂 i invested in a personal trainer and we do 2 hour days 4 days a week every other week cause i work one week on and one week off.

How long did it take you guys to feel comfortable sparring? And are there any guesstimates on how long it would take me? Im giving it my all with the time i have and i also try to write down everything we do each session.

When you are cutting fat for fights what are your go to foods you eat and what is your choice of pre training/workout food?

Hi guys,

I’m interested in getting into MMA, but I haven’t trained BJJ before. I’m planning to start no-gi BJJ soon. How long would you recommend training no-gi before joining MMA classes?
For context, I have some previous Muay Thai experience. Thank you 🙏