You think all Brock Lesnar does is tackle guys? A football player would have little chance of taking a guy like Lesnar does, knowing how to tackle a guy on the football field doesn't mean you know how to grapple. It means you can get a guy to the ground who's TDD defense consists of fending or running the other way, hardly division 1 wrestling.
Actually from all reports rugby players are probably better able to do the transition than any other football codes. Rugby tackles does translate to grappling pretty well, this is why most if not all top rugby union and rugby league teams have one or more wrestling coaches (more often than not at Olympic level). Controlling the arm and head of the opponent is also important in slowing the play the ball this is where jiu-jitsu comes into play.
Right now, James Toney is the perfect boxer suited for mma. Toney is taking the training seriously, and learning everything he can to prepare for this fight. Toney is doing what any boxer trying to make it in mma would have to do, and to my knowlege, he is the only high profile boxer doing it.
PAC for sure! I think he'd be able to do very well if not dominate in MMA if he had the foundation and commitment for it.
I hope you are correct but I dont see it, a defensive fighter like Toney is all wrong for mma imo. Hope he is training his ass off because he's very old to be learning something new.
Jesus christ, you actually think a rugby tackle is at all, and I mean at all, related to a wrestling takedown? :-(
i think the way the comment was made was wrong but there are elements of rugby league that would make someone potentially more suited to pick up mma and u will find alot of teams are actually hiring mma and wrestling coaches for skills surrounding wrestling momentum and controlling the ruck in a game the physical conditioning and body type of some players would be good i guess it would be their mental attitude and ability to learn and train that would determine whether or not to succeed.
Very good point hey, in the NRL there are some great athletes that would make crazy mma fighters. Imagine copping a knee against a Greg Inglis or Israel Folau. These guys are very powerful moving forward and just as hard to take down. Built for mma.
I agree with that, certainly being more familiar with leverage would help to bring somebody down in rubgy, but it doesn't really work the other way. Nor would a great wrestler be particularly comfortable playing rugby; better than a novice who hasn't wrestled of course, but still In rugby the runner is coming towards you, in MMA they can move away, there is no time in rubgy, you usually have to track the guy down in MMA. Basically the motion is towards each other (obviously not straight on) but it's nothing like that in MMA, throw in punches etc etc etc. The impressive athleticism and insane conditioning of a rugby player would certainly be a help, but the technique is going to need a huge degree of change. There is a line of thought that a rugby player would be as well suited to many street fights as a boxer, not sure I agree with it, but it is an interesting thought. Mostly I was talking about him saying a boxer with an ounce of takedown defense could KO Lesnar. Takes a little more than an ounce to stop a takedown from a physical monster who has been taking people down his whole life.
Once again, in a MMA bout the opponent will generally not be running towards them. In rugby league the only TDD is fending. So we have a guy who is running at you (alot of the time anyway) who has no intention of sprawling or stuffing the takedown in any way, the intention is to make metres not to sprawl and stop. Yes many NRL clubs use jiujitsu blackbelts but they are not teaching jiujitsu! As you said they are teaching control on the ground to slow the play the ball on a guy who is not rolling but simply trying to stand. Jiujitsu is swees, submissions and transitions, not holding a guy down until the ref calls held. I've rolled with league players (not 1st grade admittedally) they are very heavy on top but once you make some space they're completely lost. In saying this though guys like Inglis, Folua, those big mobil men could do well if they set their mind to it, but they wouldn't get anywhere with league style tackling. The bigger men have proved very unfit in the ring, Carl Webb comes to mind.
I do like seeing a bit of biff on the field though, can't say much for the technique still great fun to watch! [YT]<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ehxVVjDLV2w&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ehxVVjDLV2w&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>[/YT]
