Are the next great generation of boxers already in MMA?

[Greed.]

No. It's mostly wrestlers and Jiu-Jitsu guys that go into MMA, not boxers.

[VicariousVice]

No. It's mostly wrestlers and Jiu-Jitsu guys that go into MMA, not boxers.

He's talking about the potential Boxers that will grow to become the next generation of the sport. If, instead of walking into a Boxing gym for the first time to become a fighter, are already training to become an MMA fighter.

[WarVeteranO01]

Maybe they know that's why you're there and that you think of them as "dry humpers".

If someone thought of me in such a disrespectful way, I wouldnt give them an ounce of respect either.

You deserve it then.

I dont think you get the point, they disrespect my children, they dont tell me nothing. My kids dont deserve crap, the EGO of these MMA guys is ridiculous if they have to discourage children from learning a combat sport that MMA/UFC derived off of. Its no surprise Dana White nut hugs Tyson and has his fighters call out Floyd Mayweather on a daily basis.

[nubianpiye]

Mixed martial arts is a much smaller sport on a global scale so the answer to your question is no.

MMA will never surpass boxing it's created it's own niche and market but that's about it.

[SunSpace]

And that's the issue right there. They'll have the future of White fighters, perhaps, but they're not inclusive enough to be on par with boxing's diversity. And more diversity = better talent. You can have a team of the best White guys from the states, but if they go against a team of the best guys from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Ghana, Ukraine, Spain, Argentina, etc, the Whites are severely outmatched. Why? Because the depth of the competition is immensely different. The White guys are competing against themselves in a niche. The other team is competing not only against the fighters from their country, but those from around the world. It has to be the best of the best of the best. It's that simple.

Do you think it's a coincidence the NBA has so many Black players? It's because that sport is more open toward diversity. It has to be the best of the best in the states. You can't just be some random White, tall guy and get in. And, they even have a decent amount of worldwide players, too, which has been improving as other countries take on the sport more seriously.

That's what it's all about. In MMA, you could just be a random, White backyard brawler who got a black-belt in karate as a kid, and you'd have a shot. That's probably why they can get away with fighting like street-fighters. I just can't respect that. I respect the high-level wrestlers like Couture was and such, but I cannot respect a lot of the rest of its talent.

[Dagomba]

Looking at their punching technique I'd say not really.

[Adonis Creed]

No they're in football/basketball even though 99 percent don't have the size or skill to ever be pro in those sports

[Johnwoo8686]

I don't understand how Floyd "embarrassed the UFC" at all. Explain that one.

For sure though Connor vs Floyd in strictly a boxing match Floyd wins but Connor vs Floyd in a street fight, MMA ring, kickboxing ring, muy Thai ring etc etc etc etc etc absolutely Connor murders Floyd.

This you can not guarantee. Conor has mediocre grappling skills at best. He's been submitted by nobodies and a lightweight contender with 10 losses and little time to train. Conor isn't even that hard to beat in the sport he competes in.

Conor's strong suit is his boxing ability. He has more boxing experience than 90% of UFC fighters which makes him difficult to beat. Against Mayweather he would not have the advantage in a straight up fist fight. He would have to resort to another aspect of his fight game, most of which is he is average in, in order to stand a chance.

[Johnwoo8686]

Other posters have explained it quite well. Essentially, the UFC used Mayweather's name to hype its fighters. They sought to humiliate boxing as a martial art, in order to gain fans. Throughout all this, Mayweather's response was that boxers would knock MMA fighters out, and that his career in boxing was much more profitable.

Mayweather ended up winning both those hype fights by outlasting them. The last nail in the coffin was a boxer (Holm) beating Rousey, who the UFC hyped as being able to beat Floyd (the top boxer right now). It showed that what people thought was way, way off. It didn't take a male boxer to stand up to a female MMA fighter; a female boxer, largely unknown and just starting out in MMA, was good enough. It set the record straight.

The reason this is significant is because, frankly, it was really disrespectful to watch everyone, even boxing ESPN writers, act like MMA fighters would annihilate boxers. These writers, for as much as they know, have never boxed a day in their lives. It was a betrayal to the sport which stung all the more because of it. Much the same when it came to fans, in the sense of not respecting the sport. Public opinion was truly terrible at the time, and it was insulting. Not so much in an utterly serious way, but still so.

I, for one, have boxed, and I know how dangerous boxing is as a martial art. I take pride in it. So, it was a victory when Holm proved them all wrong. I don't care so much about the Floyd aspect of it, but he was the one who symbolized boxing for them, so his victory is boxing's victory, in this sense.

Anyhow, I can tell you right now that, in a street fight, the boxer has the ultimate advantage. Why? Most fights start standing up. That right there is an edge. Second reason? Who in their right mind is going to wrestle someone on the ground, when a fighter can get their eyes gouged out and so forth?

That is a point most people miss when they start listing all the supposed ways in which "a boxer would lose to an MMA fighter." Let me add a third reason: kicks. Most head kicks fail to land. So, is the plan to hope you can get in range, over and over again, to kick someone's legs enough to get them down? That's what they're left with.

You know how open that'll leave an MMA fighter? All a boxer has to do is keep the distance, wait for an opening, and boom, fight's over. That is what a real street fight could very well look like, if it includes a good boxer. How people have missed this is beyond me, but whatever.

To get to the point, every martial art is equal. They can all be deadly, given the right circumstances. Hence, anyone can lose to anyone. But, and I'll repeat this again because it is extremely important, boxing maintains the first edge in any fight. That is simply the truth because of the stand-up commencement aspect. In my opinion, this adds to boxing's value overall. It can be defeated, of course, but it has something that the others do not. Boxing's simply the most efficient way to begin a fight. Once it begins, the boxer doesn't have to worry about getting out of a hold right off the bat, but the MMA fighter has to worry about getting out-boxed immediately. This concept can be extended to any kind of ring you think of.

Nevertheless, learning other martial arts besides boxing is useful. In particular, I think something like Krav Maga is very interesting. The idea of applying a martial art to real world situations is headed in the right direction. That's what fighting is all about, at the end of it--winning no matter what. Of course, I see flaws in the style, but I keep in mind that it appears that the objective is many times to avoid getting shot or stabbed, instead of winning a physical fight. All the slappy punches make sense in that regard.

MMA fighters, eventually, will be more fearsome than boxers. But this is when, and only when, they begin learning as many martial arts as possible from the beginning. That time is not here yet.

This post is a gem. It is very logical and well thought out. These boxing guys who claim average UFC fighters could beat the top boxer don't realize they are just insulting their own sport.

[K-Nan]

Calzaghe either bodybagged or beat down a lot of fighters some of them non white for a dude with slow twitch muscles.

Of course their are outliers man. But look at who primarily dominate the UFC. And look at who win all the strongman competitions in the world. Who's winning em? You guessed it. Just talking genetics.