Tyson Fury: "MMA is for people who can't box!"

[LoadedWraps]

I do believe there's some truth to this but maybe in a different way of putting it.

Firstly UFC/MMA is made up of guys from all different martial arts backgrounds, lots of which maybe had no interest in being a boxer anyway.

With that said, i do believe a boxer can go into UFC and be a lot more successful than a UFC fighter coming into boxing. You can forget about the likes of Toney because he's a washed up boxer anyway. Someone like Holly Holm did it, someone who is still young enough to compete and i think a lot of others could too but i just can't imagine a UFC fighter walking into boxing and shaking up the sport, no way. You get a lot of people with glittering amateur boxing careers who find it difficult in the pro game, never mind a guy coming from UFC.

I don't know what it is, i'm not saying boxers are superior athletes or it's a superior sport...i don't know why it is. Maybe because a lot of boxers have trained from a young age at one thing. A lot of young MMA fighters especially a learning bits of everything, i know some come from one sport but nowadays the young guys are training for different styles and maybe it's better mastering one art rather than being a jack of all trades, master of none.

Besides, Boxing is performed by standing. A lot of UFC is on the ground but if you can't get past the boxing skills, you aren't getting them to the ground which is maybe why it's easier to transition boxing skills to UFC if you are an excellent boxer, you can nullify the rest of the game if you're good enough.

But vice versa is basically useless because there's no floor game in boxing and if you have only practiced boxing as a fraction of all of your MMA training then your boxing skills aren't going to stand up if you go into boxing.

So i don't think it's about being superior athletes or superior sport (although i don't like UFC that much), i think it's a simple case of one sport can be implemented into the other easier.

That's because boxing is a deeper sport. Yes, MMA is a variety of disciplines, but most of the time fighters only scratch the surface of a combination of styles, these aren't the Gracie days.

Boxing is a complex, intricate sport, there are many nuances. A fighter is always learning, and schools of boxing have developed and honed tactics and methodologies which have been proven to be successful time and again at all levels of the sport.

In part this is because of the rich history of boxing, and how dominant it was on a global scale during the golden era, how rich the talent pool was.

Boxing is a chess match of mind and body. The ring of truth. You learn things about your opponent in the ring, and you learn things about yourself.

Tyson once said that you are always chasing that perfect round, but you never get it. Think about that. You can train from childhood and fight through adulthood beyond your prime, but still have improvements, weaknesses, mistakes. throw faster, move your head more, step back and counter instead of trying to roll to the left and pivot in the pocket against an inside fighter.

Imagine if we took the minds of guys like Benton, Burley, Cus, Nacho, Peter Fury, and dumped them on paper. How many books would we have? So much knowledge, experience, techniques, counter tactics, teaching methodologies, tricks of the trade, training secrets...

[LoadedWraps]

Ever watch the undercards of UFC events? They can barely throw a jab. As much as Joe Rogan goes on about the complex moves being done during a fight, it always amounts to a couple of semi-skilled bums covered in tattoos grinding their crotches in each others face.

[sicko]

I agree, only a handful of UFC Fighters who have good striking/boxing:

Holly Holm
Frankie Edger
Anthony Johnson
Connor McGregor

it is a few others but not many

[A-Wolf]

Ever watch the undercards of UFC events? They can barely throw a jab. As much as Joe Rogan goes on about the complex moves being done during a fight, it always amounts to a couple of semi-skilled bums covered in tattoos grinding their crotches in each others face.

You're alluding to the reason I am not a fan of the UFC. The quality of the athletes is far too low a standard for my eyes tolerate after years of watching truly world class combat sport practitioners in boxing.

[Helm]

the battle between boxing vs mma is pointless, they are 2 different sports

if tyson fury says so, then maybe he is good for mma, because he can't box for sh°t, he is just gifted with his size and decent hand speed that size.

[LoadedWraps]

the battle between boxing vs mma is pointless, they are 2 different sports

if tyson fury says so, then maybe he is good for mma, because he can't box for sh°t, he is just gifted with his size and decent hand speed that size.

This comment just exposes your lack of the understanding of boxing, because there is nothing available on the planet you should post as supporting evidence, wheras I can show you, and everyone else everything Fury does well.

[Xi_]

I agree, only a handful of UFC Fighters who have good striking/boxing:

Holly Holm
Frankie Edger
Anthony Johnson
Connor McGregor

it is a few others but not many

that's freaking pathetic......aldo was supposedly p4p #1 and he has one of the s.hittiest stand-up/stike game's i've ever seen. fury is right most of them can't box for ****.

[Larry the boss]

I agree, that **** looks like drunk people fighting at times

[Eff Pandas]

A boxer can become UFC champion (see:Holly Holm).

People fail to realize Holly Holm was more than a boxer. People know her as a boxer, but the reality is her kickboxing career predates her boxing career. She's trained at a MMA gym her whole boxing career. Holm is way more well versed in MMA than people know & boxing fans wanna admit in MMA vs Boxing discussions.

With that said, i do believe a boxer can go into UFC and be a lot more successful than a UFC fighter coming into boxing.

This is insane sounding to me. This all comes down to a math problem. Assuming two guys are of equal talent & skill I trust a guy with more weapons (fists, knees, elbows, feet) to adapt better to using less weapons than I trust a guy with less weapons (fists only) to adapt to using more weapons. Granted the concept isn't THAT simple, but I believe it to be true & as a fan of both sports I've seen more overall success with MMA guys in boxing than boxers in MMA.

[LoadedWraps]

People fail to realize Holly Holm was more than a boxer. People know her as a boxer, but the reality is her kickboxing career predates her boxing career. She's trained at a MMA gym her whole boxing career. Holm is way more well versed in MMA than people know & boxing fans wanna admit in MMA vs Boxing discussions.



This is insane sounding to me. This all comes down to a math problem. Assuming two guys are of equal talent & skill I trust a guy with more weapons (fists, knees, elbows, feet) to adapt better to using less weapons than I trust a guy with less weapons (fists only) to adapt to using more weapons. Granted the concept isn't THAT simple, but I believe it to be true & as a fan of both sports I've seen more overall success with MMA guys in boxing than boxers in MMA.

Give me one good example of an MMA fighter who has been successful in pro boxing? All the boxers who attempted MMA were well over the hill and some like Toney refused to learn some take down defense. Holly the only exception to my knowledge.

It's easier for a boxer to cross over, all things equal, because his experience and knowledge in boxing is deeper than the mma fighters knowledge in any of the disciplines he practices, the fact that he has more than one is irrelevant if none of them are as honed and perfected as one single discipline for the boxer. Tons of mma fighters take it up very late in life, practice something like wrestling, judo, jiu-jitsu, etc for 3 years to gain enough to be useful as a complimentary style to something they have been working on longer, and compete.

It's way easier for an elite boxer to practice take down defense and some ground fundamentals for 1-3 years and succeed at a high level in the mma, with his complete approach around boxing, and the complimentary tactics as a defense mechanism to keep him from getting subdued or dominated easily on the ground or against the cage, than it would be for an mma fighter of any combination of style richness in his repertoire to try and learn boxing for the same amount of time, and expect to be effective as a pro boxer. Not only would he have to be a prodigy to catch up to even club level fighters, but he would lack the experience. He would also lack the natural progression of fundamentals at a basic level and the growth which stems from training, gym work, and sparring/fights. The skills the mma fighter brings to the table in boxing are mostly null. He would probably be an elite athlete, and with that comes stamina, reflexes, and endurance, and he knows what it's like to get punched, so you can hope to expect heart, but not too many other techniques from other disciplines translate well to professional boxing.

On the other hand, boxing at an elite level is immediately translatable to mma, and if you are a fast boxer and let your hands go often and are an active boxer or even an intelligent aggresive boxer-brawler like Maidana, or guys who just throw volume with power like Margarito, or are expert combination punchers like JMM and Roman, I think would dominate the UFC if they had enough take down defense and moderate ground game to keep the ground dominant fighters honest. Boxing does the rest. A quick jab, straight, or check hook would stop a man trying to shoot for a takedown in his tracks, its just like boxing in the ring, if you can counter at a high rate, and can sustain your stance at a lower level and throw effectively from high and low levels, you will dominate and outwork anyone.