this is what the mma press has been hyping: the new breed……...you know, the guy that has trained mma from day one. like a Rory MacDonald. after all, it has been a while. mma is popular the world over. and has been for quiete some time. but look at the Rankings: who are the top guys? it s still the wrestle-boxer. guys that are excellent Wrestlers with a rudimentary understanding of striking and submissions. it doesnt matter how well rounded you are. if you meet a world class Wrestler, you are ****ed. if you cant avoid that takedown, you´re chances of Winning are Maybe ten percent. fact is, it´s kinda boring (most of the time). but it s the reality. take welterweight for example: who are the guys that actually have a realistic shot at Winning that belt (realistic meaning they dont have to depend on luck).be brutally honest. it s not masvidal. or till. or Thompson. or ponzinibbio. or zaleski dos santos. or Gunnar Nelson (great grappler but not a great Wrestler). or leon Edwards. it s covington, woodley, Usman and ben askren. it s These four that represent the elite. Maybe not your favorite Action fighters. but the ones with the necessery skillsets.
I don't have any kids, but if I did, which would I be more likely to sign my hypothetical 5 year old son up for: Option 1: Boxing/Wrestling/BJJ or Option 2: MMA? Option 1 for me. Freestyle wrestling is super legit for self-defense, it builds character and compraderie, the possibility of collegiate scholarship money, and there is no head trauama. Similar reasons for picking BJJ or Judo. Both offer the chance to compete nationally/internationally while earning pretty decent sponsorship money (if you're good enough) again, without head trauma. Boxing does come with the risk of head trauma, but the best practices established for decades mean that young boxers can earn sponsorships, benefit from partnerships like PAL, have an established career trajectory through Golden Gloves and other prominent tournaments. By contrast, MMA is guaranteed head trauma and is notoriously corrupt. Also, it is obvious from even the briefest look into the sport that these guys accumulate injuries left and right. Its not just your brain you need to worry about: it's also your rotator cuffs, your wrists/elbows, knees, backs. I know a lot of MMA fighters just from the regional/midwest scene who are physically broken down from the years of training for a dozen combined amateur & pro fights. Consider that Wonderboy Thompson made $30,000 to show for his fight with Darren Till. That, plus the virtual guarantee of long term injuries should be a pretty clear indication why parents are reluctant to put their kids into the sport.
Your scenario takes away to much of what MMA is with wrestling/BJJ and option 1 is the obvious choice
I went from as a kid karate-boxing-muay thai-bjj with majority of the time once I turned 9-10 was boxing but I think BJJ and boxing would be my choices to learn the self defence and how to throw shots correctly with little to no contact . I'm fairly new to it but wish I started BJJ when I was younger
first off, totally agree with your Point ( that parents will be hesitant to let their Kids start mma for the reasons you mentioned). but my Point is a different one: i think that the General Concept of the well rounded martial Artist is faulty! when you listen to todays Mainstream narrative, you often get the Impression that the future mma fighter will be no longer the specialist…..but rather the Allrounder, the one that is capable of all Things in equal parts. lets break it down to the most relevant disciplines: kickboxing, werstling and submissions. our future fighter will be proficient/very good in all, but superb in None...…….and this will garner success. with this i disagree. i think it s 80 percent Wrestling, 10 percent striking and 10 percent submissions. meaning a great Wrestler with Basic striking and Submission knowlege. like a kamaru Usman. or colby covington. the bad Thing About this are the implications: 1) the future is NOW ( meaning we cant expect another Explosion in Terms of fighters abilities) and 2) this doesnt bode well for excitement at the highest Level of the Sport. which means the big organisations are Bound to lose Money. and that is basicall the reason why i think the "experts" Keep insisting on the coming of this "Modern mma" FIGHTER...…...cause he will be more exciting and therefore more lucrative then your top guns of today. but that, to me, is just wishfull thinking.
Was good to see Pettis win again yesterday after moving up a division to beat a top ranked tough opponent,it doesn't seem that long ago the talk was about him being part of the "new breed"of fighter after using that showtime kick of the cage to beat Henderson for the WEC title just before the UFC bought them out and then beating him again for the UFC title. While he has had a decent career he was never able to have the sustained success I and many had hoped but maybe he can follow a similar path to Rob Whitaker who has thrived and been unbeaten since moving up to middleweight. The top of the welterweight division is full of wrestlers,which is exactly the type of guys Pettis has beaten in the past and since he's only 32 I think the only thing stopping him being successful now is if he has any effects from his failed attempt at fighting featherweight.
The situation at 170 lbs. reinforces your theory that mma will be dominated by grappling-oriented fighters indefinitely into your theory. Askren, Covington, Usman, are all wrestling oriented, as is Woodley, leaving out the occasional explosion every 4 or 5 fights. I would throw in my own two cents and cite Ponzinibio (sp?) as a dark horse who could break through that wrestling hegemony. He looked outrageously good against Magny, but the only bad news is that Ponzi seems to be injury prone. I don't think other divisions outside of 170 support your theory of wrestlers with limited skillsets dominating into the future: 135: The top fighters are Marlon Moraes (well-rounded BJJ/kickboxing), Lineker (sprawl & brawl), Cejudo (wrestling base but exceptionally well rounded), Assuncao (BJJ/boxing), and TJ (wrestling base but really more of a striker now days). Cody (boxing/wrestling) 145: Holloway (definition of well-rounded. Probably the avatar of the well rounded fighter), Ortega (bjj/boxing), Aldo (bjj/muay thai), Volkanowski (grappling/well rounded) 155: Khabib (grappling), Tony (see Holloway description), Conor (boxing/kickboxing), Gaethje (sprawl and brawl), Cowboy Cerrone (kickboxing/bjj) 185: Bobby Knuckles (kick boxing/stellar defensive grappling), Yoel (wrestling/well rounded), Eraser (spraw and brawl), Style Bender (striking, defensive grappling), Kelvin (boxing/bjj) I think you get the picture. The title picture at 170 appears to indicate that wrestlers are set to revive the era of Hammer House dominance, when Coleman/Randleman/Couture were dry humping their way to wins. But that data appears skewed. Cejudo, Cormier, and Romero are the three most credentialed wreslters in the sport and are all among the most well-rounded and exciting fighters out there.
Agree with pretty much all of this,I think in that 170lb division Ponzinibio has all the tools to beat these boring wrestle dominant guys and he Masvidal look to be our only hopes now.
