A much more plausible type of question, MMA fighters who will excell in K1

Right, you didn't have to say it. It was clearly implied in your posts. You're hijacking my idea and claiming it as your intent all along. I've seen it quite a few times and I really should start making people spell out their arguments better so they can't dodge it later.

And, no, Arlovski would do better in boxing because he's dedicated a tremendous amount of time and effort into boxing technique. Rarely does he utliize kicks or elbows. Does he know them? Of course. But, his main weapon when he fights is his fists. He uses his Sambo background in an almost purely defensive manner to better utilize his boxing technique.

 

Plenty of K1 fighters fight like that.

As long as he is good at not getting hurt with kicks, there is no reason he would be better at boxing than kickboxing. He would at least have better hands than some K1 guys.

Masato is mostly a hands guy; Arlovski would be a far inferior, chinny, version of him possibly.

 

Don't be so defensive James. It is certainly true that there are more MMA fighters that could make a transition to K1 than there are boxing. The mere fact that there are so many MMA fighters that come from that background attests to it.

The Rules for K1 much more closely resemble the rules that govern MMA standup, so it only makes sense that fighters that fight MMA standup would be better and more accustomed to K1 rules. The best strikers in MMA are usually the best kickboxers (as opposed to boxers) in MMA. Even those who use their boxing to great effect still fight in a rule set that is more similar to kickboxing (The great boxers in MMA still usually modify their stance to deal with the possibilty of kicks).

Also, I would say Dos Santos might be able to do something in K1 but I don't watch it much so I don't really know.

 

Lets just get some estimations on the number of boxers vs the number of K1 fighters.

Now is it clear why an MMA fighter might stand a better chance of breaking through in K1?

 

Not defensive, but merely in a position where I felt I had to reply to his nonsense, which I did. I didn't throw the first stone, I just replied. I'm up for good discussion back and forth. And I believe Nogueira, both of them, have extensive backgrounds in boxing. Lil Nog even medaling in the Olympics (or some equivalent, maybe the World's or something like that). I believe bronze or silver. And JDS is also more of a boxing type striker, much like Cain Valesquez.

 

Lil Nog took gold in the Brazil Ammy championship, I believe bronze in either the Pan-ams or the South American games.

I would put forward, though, that even the boxing based MMA fighters would do better in K1.

The boxing based MMA guys inherently can handle kicks to some degree, so they wouldn't be torn apart with kicks like a normal boxer. So they will still be able to use their boxing ability against K1 fighters, who naturally aren't as good at boxing as pure boxers; so the MMA fighter might possibly go in with a boxing advantage (although even that is unlikely). In boxing, they are going to be forced to go boxing for boxing, and are more likely to run across people with better boxing in boxing than in K1.

Also, the numbers thing is just too big to ignore.

 

Ah, Gold it was. I think he also did very, very well in some more international event, I remember hearing he got 2nd or 3rd. I have no idea, I don't have much motivation to look it up at the moment.

And yeah, I'd agree. By deviating from pure boxing and learning other aspects, for a decent amount of time, it changes your reflexes and your instincts. So, to go from a very limited aspect of striking (boxing) to a more diverse form involved in MMA and then back to boxing is enormously difficult. Hence why I added from a "clean slate" caveat in terms of technique.

 

It was gold in Brazil, but I forget if he also medalled in the South American games, then bronze in the Pan Ams, or there were only two tournaments.

 

Boxrec has 17620 or so active pro boxers listed. It's a lot harder to find a number on kickboxers.

 

Yeah, that was it. Bronze in the Pan Ams. Nice find, sir.