I admit it. boxing SUCKS compared to mma.

[TMLT87]

Because it's less skilled than boxing so you see more KOs and ground finishes.

How is it less skilled? like 75% of the technical aspects of an MMA fight dont even exist in boxing. No kicks, no advanced clinch game, no takedowns, no ground game. The ground game alone is far deeper technique and strategy wise than boxing.

You see more KOs and finishes because of the small gloves, the lack of standing counts, the longer rounds and all the added weapons. Nothing to do with a lack of skill. When you have big gloves, counts, 3 minute rounds and only punches coming at you even a badly outmatched opponent can last a while.

[NYG]

How is it less skilled? like 75% of the technical aspects of an MMA fight dont even exist in boxing. No kicks, no advanced clinch game, no takedowns, no ground game. The ground game alone is far deeper technique and strategy wise than boxing.

You see more KOs and finishes because of the small gloves, the lack of standing counts, the longer rounds and all the added weapons. Nothing to do with a lack of skill. When you have big gloves, counts, 3 minute rounds and only punches coming at you even a badly outmatched opponent can last a while.

It's just so sloppy and by the time the fight is half over, both guys are gassed. My opinion is that the skill gap is smaller between elite ufc guys and ufc journeymen than it is between elite and journeymen boxers. A surprise chokehold or wild kick or punch can end a ufc fight. Boxing is straight hands

[TMLT87]

It's just so sloppy and by the time the fight is half over, both guys are gassed. My opinion is that the skill gap is smaller between elite ufc guys and ufc journeymen than it is between elite and journeymen boxers. A surprise chokehold or wild kick or punch can end a ufc fight. Boxing is straight hands

Wrestling and kicks drain your gas tank far quicker than straight boxing though, plus 5 min rounds vs 3 minute so less breaks to recharge.

Theres more chance of an upset in MMA, I agree with that. That just makes it more impressive when guys put together long undefeated streaks in MMA imo.

[deowal]

How is it less skilled? like 75% of the technical aspects of an MMA fight dont even exist in boxing. No kicks, no advanced clinch game, no takedowns, no ground game. The ground game alone is far deeper technique and strategy wise than boxing.

You see more KOs and finishes because of the small gloves, the lack of standing counts, the longer rounds and all the added weapons. Nothing to do with a lack of skill. When you have big gloves, counts, 3 minute rounds and only punches coming at you even a badly outmatched opponent can last a while.

you dont know **** about boxing lol

[TMLT87]

you dont know **** about boxing lol

Thats still 10x more than you know about MMA.

I could use a laugh though, if you feel like attempting to explain how boxing is more technical and complex than a sport that features every skill boxing has plus a million other skills that it doesnt.

[Grange_27]

Thats still 10x more than you know about MMA.

I could use a laugh though, if you feel like attempting to explain how boxing is more technical and complex than a sport that features every skill boxing has plus a million other skills that it doesnt.

OK so lets look at it like this. Boxing is football(soccer for those not UK based) and MMA is Rugby.

In football you use one skill kicking and perfect it. In rugby you use lots of different skills including kicking. Nobody in thier right mind would suggest a pro Rugby player who was good at kicking could crossover to football. So saying how many skills MMA fighters are average at frankly doesnt interest me at all. Some people like Rugby I can take it or leave it. Football all the way.

[CauliflowerEars]

But its not boxing. This is like saying boxers are disgustingly bad at jiu jitsu and muay thai.

This is the point here. Some don't like MMA, simply cuz it ain't boxing. It doesn't matter how great the MMA skill or product is, it ain't boxing. Same can be said about Boxing not being MMA. It may not have anything to do with all the shortcomings of professional boxing. It may just be because one prefers MMA style fighting. - - to each his own.

It is what it is. In 25 years we'll see how many or how few new boxing fans emerge. Like this TS, most 20 yr olds will prefer MMA/UFC. It's more popular to the younger generations. No denying, really.
For some reason, most younger cats can't appreciate the sweet science of boxing and older traditional fans relate less to the martial arts/grappling style. And yet others still, who enjoy them all. It's all preference and opinion.

Ultimately, it's just petty and ignorant to come on a forum specifically to bad mouth or denigrate one sport or the other. So for me, any rebuttals to this boxing criticism get a pass. The TS publically declared "boxing sucked, was boring, etc etc, and EFF boxing."
If you want to engage in a healthy discussion that's one thing. Starting a thread to provoke discord, disrespect, and act catty, is another.
Kudos to those that responded reasonably.

[PRINCEKOOL]

Boxing doesn't choose to follow a different model, the market (fans/viewers) are the ones who decide, and they have yet to put a single organization in the driver's seat of the sport. Anyone that's tried hasn't got the buy in from the public to succeed; probably because they usually product a **** product.

MMA has a (defacto) major league, UFC. Football has the NFL. Baseball has MLB. These weren't legally appointed. Each organization started from the ground up and overtook the competition, eventually establishing itself as the #1 show in town.

That's never happened in boxing.

Boxing's closest cousin is wrestling; up until the 70s they both had the same model, with lots of different regional and national promoters. While the Mcmahon's eventually rolled up wrestling, Don King was never able to completely do the same with boxing. it remains the wild west until an organization puts forth a product good enough for the public to ordain it the major league of boxing.

I wouldn't hold my breath.

Decent post.

Well done.

[TMLT87]

OK so lets look at it like this. Boxing is football(soccer for those not UK based) and MMA is Rugby.

In football you use one skill kicking and perfect it. In rugby you use lots of different skills including kicking. Nobody in thier right mind would suggest a pro Rugby player who was good at kicking could crossover to football. So saying how many skills MMA fighters are average at frankly doesnt interest me at all. Some people like Rugby I can take it or leave it. Football all the way.

I get the basic idea of what you're trying to say - the narrower focus of football vs the wider range of stuff in rugby etc. But those two are as far apart from each other as two team ball sports could possibly be, there is absolutely zero technical crossover at all. Rugby players have more transferable skills for MMA than they do football ffs. Whereas MMA fighters commonly train with boxing coaches and spar with boxers because its applicable to them. Kicking a rugby ball wont make you very good at football but punching someone in the face is a relatively universal skill.

And the whole "masters of none" argument against MMA is overplayed imo. For a start, lets be honest, when you tune into a typical boxing card most of the fighters you see on there arent "masters" of their art either. Boxing cards are often paper thin and if its some ****e like a Frank Warren card it'll be full of regional no hoper bums who are only there to give some kid a sparring session before going down and helping build up his record. You will genuinely see multiple guys on most boxing cards who are worse actual boxers than a lot of UFC level MMA fighters. Just look at how Arum keeps putting that Collard guy on his cards now, hes a UFC washout who got soundly outboxed by Max Holloway.

And theres been olympic medallists, K1 GP winners, ADCC champions in MMA along with tons of black belts in BJJ, former Division 1 level wrestlers, a few karate and judo black belts, high level sambo guys etc etc. So its not uncommon at all to see guys who actually have reached a high level in an individual art, its also not uncommon to see them being beaten at their own game in MMA which shows that all this "average" stuff is overstated.

At the end of the day, if their skills are "average" which fighters outside of MMA could actually beat the MMA elites under rules that allows both sides to use the entirety of their skillset? (which is exactly what MMA rules do anyway, its the whole reason the sport even came into existence in the first place=

[Grange_27]

Right again. McGregor is an awful boxer. Awful, zero technique and no power. Mayweather kept him up for fun until it was time to close the show. Now to me thats understandable McGregor hasn't trained as a boxer its different footwork in MMA. However you seem to think that everything an MMA fighter trains in they master? Come on now.

As I said each to thier own. If you prefer rolling around on the floor and sloppy striking MMA all the way. I personally don't I have watched it and its ok but nothing id stay up for. You enjoy it , good for you.