are top boxers more elite then top mma fighters

Yea I'd say so. I dunno but MMA champions seem to be switching constantly (I don't really watch MMA so correct me if I'm wrong on that), and guys like Lesnar became one of the most popular MMA fighters with what like 5 fights?

 

Anyone can grapple and hug

 

all you gotta do is compare the size of the purses

 

The way I see it is kinda like this: MMA guys are probably better all around "fighters" than boxers, but decathletes aren't the best in the world at all 10 of their events either. They're the better all-around competitor than say the sprinter, but the best sprinters (and boxers) are so excellent at their craft that there's a big gulf in the competition

 

of course. No question about it

 

I must agree with this, there are fighters doing MMA for not longer than 5 6 years and they are champions...i dont think anyone could do that in boxing...

 

To play the devil's advocate, they've probably done martial arts or something similar for 15 years or so before those 5 or 6 years of MMA.

 

Yes,the reason why I say that is based on numbers.. You have to fight 25-30 to be a super star in the boxing world... Guys like Mike were seen on the radar way earlier of course but for the most part.

A WWE superstar can not become THE top boxer.... You can become a star in MMA way faster than you can in pro boxing.. This is not a knock on MMA but just the reality..

 

at boxing? yes of course.

 

Light years more elite. Anytime you can get a guy who was a former WWF wrestler and he can come into a sport and become a champ you know that sport is a joke. That would never happen in boxing.

 

sure, and you have to worry about so much stuff in mma that every opponent is completely different: when you get the title, you don't tend to hold onto it. Maybe you suck at rear naked choke defense or are vulnerable at kicking range: this weakness gets exploited. No one UFC/MMA guy can be supremely skilled at every aspect of combat, even with just worrying about hand boxers have different skill sets, but some are more "well rounded" like Hagler/Leonard etc.

(ex - Malignaggi can never beat an elite because despite speed and toughness he has no pop to keep them off, Julian Jackson and John Mugabi almost never went the distance in their careers because they either knock you out right away or get knocked out right away, etc.)

For sure boxers are masters with the hands though and have to worry about far less, and there are less ways to be taken advantage of in a hands only competition.

A guy who is the best college wrestler in the world might not do well in the UFC because he has no idea just from wrestling how to close distance on strikers and gets KOed, so his elite skills won't serve him in every fight - a more well rounded but less skilled grappler might beat him easy. That aspect is not present in boxing - you can't shift to a different paradigm in the middle of the bout.

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUx9OE7DZAo[/ame]

 

Well to be fair Brock "not even 100% real technical Wrestling" has some of the highest PPV numbers and was Champ..but I see what your saying..