boxing vs mma.....lets go

It's worth remembering that both boxing and MMA fighting are SPORTS. Ring fighting is not street fighting. Here is an incomplete list of reasons why:

Head butting
Striking the back of the head and spine
Fish hooking
Eye gouging
Groin strikes
Small joint manipulation
Kicking the head of a downed opponent
Weapons including hard surfaces in the environment.
Other people becoming involved.

All these things are banned in sport fighting...because they will mess you up real bad, and nobody wants to get their eye gouged out, or spinal cord damaged, playing sports.

Some of these things make ground fighting seem more effective than it really is. The BJJ back turtle is fine when your opponent can't stomp you. From guard, you can often easily elbow your opponent's spine. A classic wrestling shoot involves one knee down, which disallows your opponent kneeing your face in most leagues (and might break your kneecap if you do it on concrete).

Judo for example is a horribly under-rated martial art. Why go to the ground if you can remain standing, and throw your opponent onto a hard tile floor? If he's wearing clothes (which most of us are most of the time) then a lot of gi techniques are very applicable.

Ever seen combat Sambo with head-butting? Talk about a dramatic fight ender.

So in conclusion, the answer is "neither". Street fighting wins street fights.

a reply to: PocketRevolution

i guess you missed me saying the same thing about illegal strikes.

i have to say i was hoping this would go a bit better either way.

in the other thread that was not about this we were on the verge of a good discussion.

here its all about how the rules are different so whats the point...

bummer

im still saying mma all day

judo is often over looked but i have not seen it transfer well except for rousey and i think that is more about the level of competition she has.

i remember when hidehiko yoshida came into pride. he was an olympic gold medalist. nasty at judo and he was hyped up to be the next big thing...he's right about 50/50

18 mma fights
9 wins
8 losses
1 draw

It's because boxing is an old sport from another era; they call it an 'exhibition'.

There's alot of rules involved, and alot of 'class'. You don't hit when down, you don't hit certain areas of the person's body.

In MMA, you're supposed to pounce on the opponent when down and force them through sheer pain or bodily harm to give up. Boxing is more 'respectable' in the sense that the rules are even more conservative than MMA. They're much more conservative than street fighting or 'real' fighting.

The existence of the boxing glove is so that people can hit each other many, many, many times without injuring them too badly initially.

MMA is closer to realism in the sense that the moves and techniques are more compatible with real life self-defense and 'real' fighting.

Boxing is more of a sport while MMA is more of a realistic impression.

a reply to: CharlieSpeirs

I agree with almost everything you said except I find all boxing fights boring and can never get into them.

As to what is "better", boxers can't touch an MMA fighter on the ground, so that settles that. A low level BJJ guy will take the #1 ranked boxer out and choke him fast.

This is going to come across wrong, but as someone who grew up watching boxing, and who still watches it every time there's a card on HBO or Showtime, I'll take boxing every day over MMA.

I can't get into which is "more effective" because it's just a sport. Boxing is boxing, and MMA is MMA. I happen to think boxing is superior to MMA on an entertainment level and a game plan level.

MMA has it's place, and I'll watch occasionally. When the combatants are standing and fighting, I'm good with that. And here's the part that will be needlessly pithy: Once they start kicking at each other, I just sort of roll my eyes, and think "too much of a wuss to punch?" I know, I know. It's just my perception.

And once they hit the mat, I hit the fast forward button. That part is boring as all hell.


Now in the early days before it was really "MMA" and more of a lawless brawl, those were fun time indeed.

originally posted by: usernameconspiracy


And once they hit the mat, I hit the fast forward button. That part is boring as all hell.


.

im the exact opposite.
but, im a grappler
i love when it goes to the ground.
i prefer to watch abu dahbi or even the mundials

An MMA fighter is a better all-round fighter than a pure boxer and would definitely win the vast majority of fights...if we could agree on the rules! Just this year we've seen some one-bombs and MMA fights ending by good stand-up. This means a good boxer would have the ability to end a fight in some cases.

Then again, I wouldn't say whether one sport is better than the other. We've all seen good and bad boxing matches and the same for MMA. It's that cliche about styles making the fight.

I've done a little boxing myself over the past two years and have nothing but admiration for the amateurs and pros. Armchair respect is different after being in a ring and actually fighting. I had my ass handed to me in August so I can appreciate how it feels to be on the wrong end of a combination and have the blood pouring from your nose. Not to forget the 3 day headache lol.

Two totally different disciplines. Like comparing poetry to pastel canvas work. Well, not really as boxing IS a part of MMA but you get the analogy.

Just been reading the news about UFC's Reebok deal. Mixed feelings. MMA Fighting - Pros react to UFC-Reebok deal

The big-name fighters will probably benefit from the exposure and % of fees and the UFC honchos will be over the moon. Reebok have cornered the market...

The lesser known guys will lose sponsorship deals with smaller sports clothing firms. A quick search says Lawler, Rockhold and Anderson are either in, or close, with adidas. It's hard to see how Adidas will promote fighters whose every action shot has them wearing Reebok.

Time will tell.

a reply to: Kandinsky

the article does not say much but i dont think i like it

the 6 year deal will replace in cage fighter sponsors with reebok...

have to see how this plays out.

fighters rely on their sponsors to afford their training and trainers...
im sure reebok will be all over the upper level guys but what about the mid card fighters and the fighters that are on the card but not on the ppv for example?

it costs a lot of money to train full time for a fight and to be successful you have to train full time.

compared to other sports, mma does not pay that much.

yeah, if youre the champ or you get fight of the night, sure.

other than that, these guys are not rolling in the benjamins...


it also talks about uniforms..

i wonder are all fight shorts going to say reebok?
that sucks....i like seeing the tap out names and the team names and such..

the two are totally different arts in my opinion.

I agree with the points that one needs to know striking and grappling. For the most part I agree 95% with the OP.

That being said both arts have their failings and their strengths.

In my opinion:

Boxing
Pros

fast agile lateral and flanking footwork.

Great powerful punches.

some decent upper body guard.

Boxing Cons

Same agile footwork has poor base and rooting and can get thrown easily if they venture too close.

The boxing gloves make it so that wrist alignment is not so important when actually hitting. Not so good.

Big gloves allow for guarding that might not work as well without the gloves on.

Boxer can develop limited awareness of possible strikes and strategy not familiar to the Boxing world or mindset.

MMA Sport
Pros

Well rounded between grappling and striking.

Have wider mindset then a boxer might have when engaging an opponent.

Cons
Not as rounded as they might think. They may still be learning or understand sports grappling.

Possible misunderstandings about ground fighting on the street.

Possible limited knowledge of stand up grappling other than from a shoot fighter or wrestlers perspective.

Often Mediocre striking.

Often poor footwork or lack there of.

All that being said. I think both boxing and MMA are great sports.

My gripe with sport martial arts in general though is that it dismisses or is just ignorant of A LOT of martial arts from around the world that can address a lot of what they do better in a real world situation. MAA and Boxing work well both inside and outside the ring. But there are also arts that would augment the ability of either a boxer or a MMA person that they may not be aware of.

There is a whole lot of stand up grappling out there outside of the arts associated with MMA that's devastating. It's just not applicable for a sport. Do wrestlers know about this stuff. Some do. A lot don't. Could a wrestler get real good real fast at say Dumog and be snapping boxers limbs on the first beat of an attack. Sure. Can't use it in the ring though. But they should still learn it to be a well rounded grappler.

Would a western boxer find it useful to learn Panantukan and learn abgout a whole slew of strikes and angels and footwork he's never been exposed to yep. I think they should explore that though.

Should both MMA guys and Western Boxers learn about Guntings and other arm destruction techniques to be a better more well rounded fighter yep.

Is Judo waaaay underrated yep.

Should all boxers at least once experience fighting on the ground to know that sense of helplessness and panic when dealing with someone proficient in it...yep.

Should a grappler learn that there are effective counter grappling techniques out there that they should be aware of that are not taught in jujitsu or judo, but in military combatives that might get them killed shooting on someone who knows about them in a fight. ... yep

Should a boxer learn about rooting so a grappler can't just swoop them up and throw them yep.

Should a boxer learn more about how to train proprioception skills like a grappler does so they can fight inside their normal boxing range where punches aren't as effective.

Should a grappler learn that boxers can easily switch to elbows at will especially with hooks. Yep.


All in all I say MMA wins because at least the better MMA players understand that they need to be open to new arts and incorporate what works into their own, boxers don't do that so much or at least haven't much since the late 1800's.

Is Bruce Lee the greatest fighter ever? Nope. Major Nope.

Bruce Lee got his butt kicked plenty as a teen by Choy Li Fut players. Wong Jack Man kicked his butt. Told Bruce afterwards why he lost, but bruce didn't listen, his ego got in the way. Wong said something like, "hey bruce you lost because you have a very fast and excellent entry move. It usually works cause your fast. But if a person can counter it then what? You currently don't have anything after that one opening move, that's why you lost" And then Gene Labell a grappler whooped him pretty good too. So noooooooooo Bruce Lee was not the greatest fighter ever.

And neither was Yip Man while I'm ranting. he modified Wing Chun A LOT from the mainland version. He took out a lot of the long range o middle range stuff in the art to focus more on his obsession with center line theory. Wing Chun players from Yip Mans line in Hong Kong often go over to Foshan (wing Chuns birthplace) and cross train with students from folks like Pan Nam that teach the older original wing chun. It because they can't beat his students' Old Wing Chun is a little more complete and still contains techniques to close the distance.

In the end I prefer MMA I guess in theory because they are more open minded to change. Just don't like the ones that think Muay Thai and BBJ is the undisputed king off all fighting across all boards.

When it comes to excitement and unpredictability.. MMA wins all day long, at least in my opinion. Rounds are short and the action is almost always fast and tough.. Just look at when Guida fought Sanchez.. That was one of the most amazing fights I've seen in my life. It was insane.

Boxing is very tactical, and there's nothing wrong with that either. But, as an entertainment sport, it's more often than not a little too slow to me.

Both 'sports' are compromised by doping, crookedness, and corporate greed.

Floyd M has been a major factor in killing the sport for me and a lot of people I know... Boxing used to be better but now they're on the same level I think...

a reply to: jheated5

agreed both sports are filled with corruption. It's harder to tell who has more zealous douch bags.

Any opinions on the history of western boxing and it's heavy Philippine influence? Footwork. certain strikes. I think a great way to link traditional western boxing and MMA techniques is through using escrima's mano mano (modern arnis) techniques as a middle man. It would be the perfect middle path to take to be well balanced as a MMA fighter. It's a combination of western boxing, upright wrestling and joint manipulation, judo, and kali/majapahit hand techniques and footwork adapted from blade work. Bruce lee was heavily influenced by it and used a lot of it in his Jeet Kun Do. Ali was even influenced by kali footwork. Lately they are even infusing BJJ techniques into it.

SO I would say that both arts have a lot more to develop and a synergistic fusion of wrestling and boxing could be made more complete than what is currently represented in MMA if people studied more south east Asian martial arts in general.

Some of that stuff is a real eye opener especially when you are on the receiving end of it. Changes how you fight that's for sure.

I just feel as if mixed martial arts is more entertaining. I use to watch boxing but once I gave MMA a chance, I never looked back. I watch practically every UFC event now. I really enjoy the technical aspects and the completely unexpected outcomes that result. For example, when Werdum submitted Fedor after his ten-year undefeated reign or when Anthony Pettis ran up the cage and kicked Henderson to knock him down. That was insane. And this most recent UFC card, was almost all finishes and you rarely ever see that in boxing. I just truly love watching MMA. It's such an exciting sport.

it depends on who the boxer is and who the boxer is fighting

Good free fight tomorrow! Saturday.

Machida vs Romero.....I really hope to see lyoto come back after that tough loss to rockhold.

More on topic:

MMA all day baby! Once you have rolled, the ground game is fun to watch.

Boxing is officially dead to me after the GD mayweather atrocity, robbery, bull$h!t ppv....

WAR MACHIDA!

a reply to: GoShredAK

Machida vs Romero.....I really hope to see lyoto come back after that tough loss to rockhold.

Yeah, I love the guy and had high hopes that he'd be wearing the belt last year. It looks like he's sliding now and will need a W for confidence. He's a long way from becoming a Hendo, but must be thinking his window for glory is not far from closing.

a reply to: Kandinsky

Me too, he's such a classic warrior, I love his style, the real life karate kid, it's like he's a video game character lol.

I agree though we may see the Machida era coming to a close. We will know for sure tonight. Hopefully that elbow didn't mess him up too bad. Getting dominated on the ground has got to rattle a guys confidence too.

About hendo, if he wasn't already destined for the hall of fame, now, after his recent 1st round destruction of boestch, he certainly is. That was awesome.