Got a question about MMA training. I boxed amateur and still train in boxing several times a week and I also wrestled in High School, but Im facing a guy who is a pretty decent Collegiate wrestler(definitely a better wrestler than me). The fight is 3 months away should I just continue to improve on my striking where I have the advantage or should I try to learn more wrestling to counteract what hes going to try to do? I don't really have a lot of time to learn anything completely new, but I was wanting some advice.

wrestling is very important:boxing:

wrestling is very important:boxing:

I understand, but could I improve enough in 3 months to make it worthwhile?

I have a buddy who wrestled in high school, and as you should know it is no cake walk... But i never wrestled a day in my life other than just ****ing around with my friends, and my buddy who wrestled one day taught me some moves, and lets just say i know some **** now, not alot, but enough to hold my own, so yeah 3 months you could learn a little more, but I say just improve your striking it sounds like you have a decent base in both striking and wrestling, so if his wrestling base is better than yours, than you want to make sure your striking is atleast better than his! Practice takedown defense, throw a knee to his face when he shoots in for the takedown, stay moving and work on elusiveness, so when he shoots to take you down, he'll run right past you like a raging bull... Nothing frustrates a wrestler more in MMA!

Got a question about MMA training. I boxed amateur and still train in boxing several times a week and I also wrestled in High School, but Im facing a guy who is a pretty decent Collegiate wrestler(definitely a better wrestler than me). The fight is 3 months away should I just continue to improve on my striking where I have the advantage or should I try to learn more wrestling to counteract what hes going to try to do? I don't really have a lot of time to learn anything completely new, but I was wanting some advice.

You already have an advantage in the standup over the wrestler, focus on wrestling now to make sure he doesnt just dominate you in the clinch and takes away your standup that way. You probably wont get up to his level in just 3 months but your wrestling will improve a lot since you dont have a lot of experience there, you will pick up things quick. You can def. close the gap to him

I have a buddy who wrestled in high school, and as you should know it is no cake walk... But i never wrestled a day in my life other than just ****ing around with my friends, and my buddy who wrestled one day taught me some moves, and lets just say i know some **** now, not alot, but enough to hold my own, so yeah 3 months you could learn a little more, but I say just improve your striking it sounds like you have a decent base in both striking and wrestling, so if his wrestling base is better than yours, than you want to make sure your striking is atleast better than his! Practice takedown defense, throw a knee to his face when he shoots in for the takedown, stay moving and work on elusiveness, so when he shoots to take you down, he'll run right past you like a raging bull... Nothing frustrates a wrestler more in MMA!

Thanks for the input.

You already have an advantage in the standup over the wrestler, focus on wrestling now to make sure he doesnt just dominate you in the clinch and takes away your standup that way. You probably wont get up to his level in just 3 months but your wrestling will improve a lot since you dont have a lot of experience there, you will pick up things quick. You can def. close the gap to him

Thanks for the advice its much appreciated.

I probably have no business answering your question considering I have no actual fight experience (I'm just a fan that trains), so take my advice with a grain of salt.

You need to work on wrestling, clinching and take down defense. A lot. A ton. Like, drill and train it to death. A wrestler in any MMA bout can determine where the fight takes place. So if he does not want to stand and trade with you, the fight will go to the ground. Or the clinch game against the cage, you should find out about your opponents wrestling style.

Obviously you're not going to stop your stand-up training, so keep that going to.

as a boxer/sub grappler I would say work loads on takedown defence but do NOT knee when he comes in. If you give him the leg without KOing him he will put you on your back so quick you won't know what happened.

Boxing is good, mix that with low kicks, sprawling and defensive clinch grappling, as well as a few escapes from side control and mount in case **** happens. it also helps if you keep circling off when the fight comes so he won't get a clean shot, and if he wants to tie up show him what a right cross looks like.

Train both. Drill wrestling techniques to stay / get back to your feet and drill standup to capitalize once it gets there.

First off, thank Pesci you wrestled in high school, that will be such an advantage to you, simply because you know what is going on. Having been a grappler before I learned to strike, let me tell you a few things I would have never wanted anyone to do when I was fighting mma.

Number 1, the most important thing, is, CIRCLE AWAY FROM THE GOD DAMN POWERHAND!!! If you do nothing else I say, circle away from the power hand, please, for the love of all that is sacred in your life. All wrestlers have this thing, where they fake the shot and go for the overhand right, its the only powerful strike they have, and when they have you worrying about that, they go for the takedown. see end of bisping vs henderson for examples of what NOT to do

Number 2, while not good in boxing, in mma, I love to stick out my left arm (only every so often) straight out while I am circling, and the moment he comes within my fingers reach, bam! right hand, step back and keep circling away from the power hand. The reason I love this, is as a wrestler, he will always try to come to you, and you will always find the exact moment to hit him. Plus, any jab he tries (key word is tries) to throw will be easily avoided. Remember the people you have trained with are light years ahead of him, you will laugh the first time you see his attempt at a jab. One person who does this really well is mirko crocop (well, he used to) see crocop vs waterman

Number 3, dont worry about ground work, worry about getting up. Start on your back in the guard, or mount, or whereever you may feel you may end up, and learn to get up, while the other guy only tries to keep you down on the ground. You wont learn groundwork fast enough to mess with him, just drill getting up, over and over. See Maurice Smith vs mark coleman for examples.

Also, a few more tips, here is what I can guarentee. In the beginning, he will try to strike with you, because he will have a false sense of confidence. After about 30 seconds to a minute, he will work strictly on taking you down when he realizes striking is a really bad idea. Also, he will have a crummy jab, and the only thing he will really throw is the overhand right, and occasionally a leaping left hook. And if he tries to run in and bull rush you, clinch and push him away the best you can, again, crocop did this very well in his fights.

Final thought, only really worry about the 1-2 at first. The hooks and other such things will not be beneficial until he is tired, and that wont be till probably the second round, and the jab and cross could whoop his butt alone.

the 1-2 is all you need, work it, stay sharp, and you will be golden.

I would continue focusing on boxing, and learning how to keep the fight upright, like takedown defence etc Seeing as he has wrestled at a higher level than you I wouldn't try wrestling with him.

You are no better then your worst link. You have to improve your wrestling/groundgame. Not that you shouldn't still train standup, but in 3 months you could learn A LOT.

Not that i know anything but your not going to submit the guy right? we can assume that if hes better at wrestling then your probably not going to submit him so why learn how to submit people?

id say learn the submits but most importantly learn how to avoid them, know when their coming, and how to get out of them not how to get people into them. like if theres people you can wrestle with that are better then you wrestle with them but dont work on pinning them just work breaking contact and getting back on your feet.

also work on your foot work up on your toes bounce around alot get used sidestepping and moving out of the way in an instant for take downs and just about anything else. the first bit of the match i recommend not really attacking and more so learning the other guys rhythm and foot work helps a **** load with that.

a wrestler wouldn't submit people either. They normally GnP unless they have submission grappling training

OP don't ask a Forum which is mostly boxers about MMA if you want a thread with more than a handful of helpful answers

try http://www.bullshido.net they have people who can actually help you and less guys who know nothing about grappling

a wrestler wouldn't submit people either. They normally GnP unless they have submission grappling training

OP don't ask a Forum which is mostly boxers about MMA if you want a thread with more than a handful of helpful answers

try http://www.bullshido.net they have people who can actually help you and less guys who know nothing about grappling

eh ohh well my only experience with wrestling is with bjj people and they try to submit.

reguardless though your number 1 concern is still getting back on your feet.

It's basic logic really, you have boxed, he hasn't, and he is a better wrestler than you, therefore, work on sprawls and stuff to keep you upright, and box him. But also work on your wrewstling too in case you are forced to grapple or fight him on the ground.

good luck on your fight TS update us on it

It's basic logic really, you have boxed, he hasn't, and he is a better wrestler than you, therefore, work on sprawls and stuff to keep you upright, and box him. But also work on your wrewstling too in case you are forced to grapple or fight him on the ground.

if he hasn't done any kind of striking he shouldn't be in there. It's likely that he has done at least some boxing.

if he hasn't done any kind of striking he shouldn't be in there. It's likely that he has done at least some boxing.
Thats not true bro, im not bias at all im a fan of both mma and boxing, more of boxing but ill tell you this, alot of wrestlers come into mma with no other discipline than wrestling, thinking they are going to just dominate with their wrestling, most boxers, bjj, muay thai, and other fighters will take up another discipline before they enter the cage, and that is due to the dominance of wrestlers in the UFC. Most of the best fighters have been wrestlers, but alot of other wrestlers fail to remember the other aspects of the sport, and that includes alot more than just wrestling!

Thats not true bro, im not bias at all im a fan of both mma and boxing

This is where you should have stopped.

At my mma gym you can't even get a fight if you don't at least train some striking/wrestling.

Just because they only wrestle in the fight doesn't mean they haven't learned how to strike. Its just their striking won't be at a high level.

This is where you should have stopped.

At my mma gym you can't even get a fight if you don't at least train some striking/wrestling.

Just because they only wrestle in the fight doesn't mean they haven't learned how to strike. Its just their striking won't be at a high level.
Well it's common sense, striking isnt hard... For most people. At an MMA gym youre really only learning the basics of boxing, if that. If a pure wrestler wanted to get effective boxing training he should go to a real boxing gym, to master the discipline. And if not, then yes, their striking would be at a low level.

And also, Ive got a a few friends that wrestled in high school, and went in to training for MMA and after only 2 months got fights, not nearly enough time to develop a solid striking base, for boxing or MMA, and they both won (one by GNP, the other by guillotine choke... stereotypical MMA wrestlers) so it's not as hard as you claim it is to get fights at all. If a trainer sees something he can work with (an experienced wrestling background, boxing experience, ect.) he'll throw his fighter in there if he's confident about him and his skill set. Some trainers (although not a good thing) are even probably very eager to throw some of these experienced wrestlers in there and test out the waters.

so it's not as hard as you claim it is to get fights at all.


lol I never claimed it was hard to get fights, even if one place turned you down there will always be someone who will put you in a ring. But some gyms try to ensure quality control by making sure their mma fighters actually can use a mixed martial arts set.

Tbh the odds are better for a pure wrestler to win than a boxer with some slight grappling skill. A good wrestler will have you off your feet eventually unless you KO him

a wrestler wouldn't submit people either. They normally GnP unless they have submission grappling training

OP don't ask a Forum which is mostly boxers about MMA if you want a thread with more than a handful of helpful answers

try http://www.bullshido.net they have people who can actually help you and less guys who know nothing about grappling

Thanks man. Im at this forum damn near daily and I honestly dont do the whole internet thing I know BS and checking my email. I willl pose this question where you mentioned it I appreciate it. Thanks everybody else for your input. Obviously it doesnt matter what I do in the next 3 months Im going to be looking to knock him out as Ive been training boxing for about 13yrs and competed for a bout half of it, but Idont want to be a one trick pony. At the level Im fighting at I believe my hand game is good enough to knock most of the local guys out, but if I win Im thinking about possibly choosing this as a career.

lol I never claimed it was hard to get fights, even if one place turned you down there will always be someone who will put you in a ring. But some gyms try to ensure quality control by making sure their mma fighters actually can use a mixed martial arts set.

Tbh the odds are better for a pure wrestler to win than a boxer with some slight grappling skill. A good wrestler will have you off your feet eventually unless you KO him
Yeah you make a good points bro, I was kinda hatin a lil bit thats my bad, with comments like that though I can tell you have some knowledge of MMA! Do you fight? I take it yes?

not in mma yet but compete in boxing and sub grappling separately and am training for an mma fight in a couple months

not in mma yet but compete in boxing and sub grappling separately and am training for an mma fight in a couple months
Thats tight bro, what type of grappling discipline do you like using the most?

dude pm me if u wana talk about this stuff so we dont **** up the thread