Differences between conventional boxing and mma boxing

[shadeyfizzle]

1. In mma stance is usually with knees bent lower than in boxing with the lead hand held low and out front to maximize reach as opposed to high and tight for defense and power. Might seem an amateur mistake to the average boxing fan but there are reasons for this fundamental difference. First is having the lead further out and low helps defend against clinches and takedowns. The second another fundamental difference.

2. In boxing blocking is basic. In mma blocking is a last resort. The tiny mma gloves with use of the fingers makes parrying much easier and makes blocking nearly impossible. In mma you could jab to textbook perfection with the right in perfect position to block and still get knocked out by a counter left hook that would pose no danger in boxing. So mma fighters generally maximize their reach to increase distance and reaction time to dodge punches.

3. almost everything illegal in boxing is strongly encouraged in mma. clinching, holding the back of your opponent's head while punching, mayweather elbow blocks, headbutts on the inside, holding out the jab as a measuring stick all basic skills in mma that are generally frowned upon and might get you a reputation in a boxing gym.

[SpeedKillz]

the main differences is that a boxers punch is a work of art, and an mma punch looks like a drunken street fight.

boxing is a science, mma is a brawl. do you need to be skilled to fight in the octagon? sure! can you be unskilled and still be successful in the octagon? absolutely!! does this hold true for boxing?? HELL FUKIN NO!

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

1. In mma stance is usually with knees bent lower than in boxing with the lead hand held low and out front to maximize reach as opposed to high and tight for defense and power. Might seem an amateur mistake to the average boxing fan but there are reasons for this fundamental difference. First is having the lead further out and low helps defend against clinches and takedowns. The second another fundamental difference.

2. In boxing blocking is basic. In mma blocking is a last resort. The tiny mma gloves with use of the fingers makes parrying much easier and makes blocking nearly impossible. In mma you could jab to textbook perfection with the right in perfect position to block and still get knocked out by a counter left hook that would pose no danger in boxing. So mma fighters generally maximize their reach to increase distance and reaction time to dodge punches.

3. almost everything illegal in boxing is strongly encouraged in mma. clinching, holding the back of your opponent's head while punching, mayweather elbow blocks, headbutts on the inside, holding out the jab as a measuring stick all basic skills in mma that are generally frowned upon and might get you a reputation in a boxing gym.

I work with a lot of MMA fighters now. They come in to the gym to learn stand up and I am learning myself how to train them in "mma stand up".

Bottom line though, the reason that MMA boxing isn't as fluid and as good as a traditional boxing is because of the footwork and the turning of the hips when throwing shots.

The reasons are understood and you posted them but I try and teach an mma style of boxing that can help them.

[lx!!]

the main differences is that a boxers punch is a work of art, and an mma punch looks like a drunken street fight.

boxing is a science, mma is a brawl. do you need to be skilled to fight in the octagon? sure! can you be unskilled and still be successful in the octagon? absolutely!! does this hold true for boxing?? HELL FUKIN NO!

Took the words right out my mouth.

[TR vs. GB]

its stupid to bad mouth mma fighters punches. I know they can look awful like literally a lot of golden gloves fighters have much crisper punches but they have to just spend so much of their time on different aspects so stop being ignorant.

[Big_L]

it's not about stance or anything else. they don't have the skill. not their fault. they spend a lot of time on other things. but thats all it is. they don't look bad because of the their stance or anything they do on purpose. they just don't have good hand skills.

[mushahadeen]

I guess you're right.

[shadeyfizzle]

its stupid to bad mouth mma fighters punches. I know they can look awful like literally a lot of golden gloves fighters have much crisper punches but they have to just spend so much of their time on different aspects so stop being ignorant.

Alot of times though punches may look awful and sloppy to a boxing fan but its actually textbook form for mma.

Boxing fans like to clown mma fighters for having glass jaws because knockouts are a regular occurence in mma but what they fail to understand is that basic fundamental boxing defense is extremely difficult to apply in mma.

Basic shell defense a la clottey, winky, abraham is very simple to learn in boxing and will negate just about everything thrown at you, forcing your opponent to mix it up and be more creative.

Apply the exact same defense with the exact same form and technique in mma though and almost every punch thrown at you will land. Reason being the small mma gloves provide huge holes in your defense. So it becomes quite normal in mma boxing to throw looping punches to get around the opponent's guard with little concern with being countered because the probability of landing is highet

[mushahadeen]

Alot of times though punches may look awful and sloppy to a boxing fan but its actually textbook form for mma.

Boxing fans like to clown mma fighters for having glass jaws because knockouts are a regular occurence in mma but what they fail to understand is that basic fundamental boxing defense is extremely difficult to apply in mma.

Basic shell defense a la clottey, winky, abraham is very simple to learn in boxing and will negate just about everything thrown at you, forcing your opponent to mix it up and be more creative.

Apply the exact same defense with the exact same form and technique in mma though and almost every punch thrown at you will land. Reason being the small mma gloves provide huge holes in your defense. So it becomes quite normal in mma boxing to throw looping punches to get around the opponent's guard with little concern with being countered because the probability of landing is highet

Ya that's true. But whatever.

[TR vs. GB]

Alot of times though punches may look awful and sloppy to a boxing fan but its actually textbook form for mma.

Boxing fans like to clown mma fighters for having glass jaws because knockouts are a regular occurence in mma but what they fail to understand is that basic fundamental boxing defense is extremely difficult to apply in mma.

Basic shell defense a la clottey, winky, abraham is very simple to learn in boxing and will negate just about everything thrown at you, forcing your opponent to mix it up and be more creative.

Apply the exact same defense with the exact same form and technique in mma though and almost every punch thrown at you will land. Reason being the small mma gloves provide huge holes in your defense. So it becomes quite normal in mma boxing to throw looping punches to get around the opponent's guard with little concern with being countered because the probability of landing is highet

Ok thats cool. I respect mma fighters but man I really just have no interest at all in that sport.