Which sport is harder to become successful MMA or Boxing ?

[Boxfan83]

Mma

if u have legit physical talent u can train mma for 5 years in ur late 20’s and become champ. No previous combat experience necessary


ngannou was digging sand mines and driving taxi. Went to Europe started fighting. Became ufc champ within 5 yrs

Jon Jones trained for 5 years and he subbed bjj black belts like vitor and Belfort in title fights lol





nobody can train boxing for 5 yrs and become champ. Especially not after their 20’s

Didnt former champs Charles Martin and Deontay Wilder start boxing until they were like 20? Joshua didnt start boxing until 18, won a Gold Medal and became a 3 belt champ.

As for John Jones he was a Division 1 wrestler prior to MMA which is probably the best foundation to have in MMA. Wrestling > Jits. As for Ngannou, the man is just big but the mans also had career blunders, MMA is just far more forgiving in losing though.

[deathofaclown]

Mma

if u have legit physical talent u can train mma for 5 years in ur late 20’s and become champ. No previous combat experience necessary


ngannou was digging sand mines and driving taxi. Went to Europe started fighting. Became ufc champ within 5 yrs

Jon Jones trained for 5 years and he subbed bjj black belts like vitor and Belfort in title fights lol





nobody can train boxing for 5 yrs and become champ. Especially not after their 20’s

Wilder boxed 18 months and won an Olympic bronze medal

Joshua won an Olympic gold medal about 2 or 3 years boxing and a world champion about 5 or 6 years boxing.

[HeadShots]

Wilder boxed 18 months and won an Olympic bronze medal

Joshua won an Olympic gold medal about 2 or 3 years boxing and a world champion about 5 or 6 years boxing.

Ya they won amateur championships.

how old were they when they started?

Is ufc pro or amateur?

[HeadShots]

Didnt former champs Charles Martin and Deontay Wilder start boxing until they were like 20? Joshua didnt start boxing until 18, won a Gold Medal and became a 3 belt champ.

As for John Jones he was a Division 1 wrestler prior to MMA which is probably the best foundation to have in MMA. Wrestling > Jits. As for Ngannou, the man is just big but the mans also had career blunders, MMA is just far more forgiving in losing though.

Couple things

18 is not 20’s

bronze medal is not even champion in amateurs lmfao


how many years later did he become professional world champion.

[Smash]

if u are not good at punching boxing is harder, if u are good at punching, boxing is easier

[deathofaclown]

Ya they won amateur championships.

how old were they when they started?

Is ufc pro or amateur?

AJ won a world title about 6 years after first walking into a boxing gym

[Willow The Wisp]

Some interesting comments here. Some seem very sound, others less so.
One important aspect, and perhaps the most important question is this:

"How many bodies do I have to climb over to get to the top?"

It seems to me that discussions of the difficulty in mastering the sport, payrates, promotional opportunities, geography, etc. Are all applied to both You and your competitors in the sport rather evenly.
So it becomes stricly a question of "Who've I gotta beat to get to the top around here?"

Here are your numbers:

June 2023

Total Active* Professionals World wide:
Boxing............................23,454
Mixed Martial Arts..........5,967

(*Active means having fought during the prior 12 months).

That's your answer

[HeadShots]

AJ won a world title about 6 years after first walking into a boxing gym

nope


he won his first world championship at 27(against martin). 9 years after he started boxing at 18(younger 20's).


boxing already has like 4 belts every division. you can't count the contender too. lmfao UFC only has 1 belt for each division, yet and still it's easier to become champ.

[dannnnn]

It's far and away easier to become successful in MMA. I'm not knocking it by the way, it just is.

MMA in general is more of a shoot out. It's unpredictable, upsets happen frequently and there's always the underlying sense that anything can happen. It's a tough sport to bet on for those reasons. Couple that with not needing many fights worth of experience to make it to the big leagues and you have a recipe for quick success (compared to other sports at least).

Nobody really gets groomed for success with easy 'learning' fights. It's pretty much sink or swim and fight records are real. But the other side to that coin is that if you can string together a few impressive victories you'll quickly get noticed. Age isn't such a death knell either, one of the 'prospects' on the current season of The Ultimate Fighter is 36 years old for example.

Boxing is all about the future. Careers are built, champions are milked and fights are marinated. MMA is all about right now--throw them in and may the best man win. The winner moves up, the loser moves down and they both get another opportunity soon.

[famicommander]

Mma

if u have legit physical talent u can train mma for 5 years in ur late 20’s and become champ. No previous combat experience necessary


ngannou was digging sand mines and driving taxi. Went to Europe started fighting. Became ufc champ within 5 yrs

Jon Jones trained for 5 years and he subbed bjj black belts like vitor and Belfort in title fights lol





nobody can train boxing for 5 yrs and become champ. Especially not after their 20’s

Jon Jones was an amateur wrestler in high school and junior college before he started training MMA. Ngannou trained in boxing for a year when he was 22, then got sick, then started training MMA again at 26, turned pro at 27. He didn't become UFC champion until he was 34.

It's called mixed martial arts because you literally mix the martial arts. All of Jones' wrestling training contributes to his MMA, as does Ngannou's boxing training. Almost everyone who is good in MMA has a highly specialized background in other martial arts. It's not like they just walked into an MMA gym at 23 and started from scratch.

Amanda Nunes trained in Karate and Capoeira as a little girl and then Judo, boxing, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a teenager before she started MMA.

Anderson Silva trained in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, boxing, Capoeira, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu among others before he got into MMA.

Lyoto Machida trained and competed in Sumo, boxing, Karate, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, catch wrestling, and Muay Thai from age 4 until he turned pro in MMA at 25.

Valentina Shevchenko:
-former national amateur champion boxer, International Master of Sport in Boxing, 2-0 pro boxing record
-former national champion in Judo, 1st degree black belt, International Master of Sport
-former world bronze medalist and 2X continental champion in Taekwondo, 2nd degree black belt, International Master of Sport
-multiple time amateur and pro world champion in kickboxing, International Master of Sport
-multiple time amateur and pro world champion in Muay Thai, International Master of Sport