I dont want to do this thread on the boxing forum, because I kno thats gonna be 90 percent who say : Boxing ALL THE WAY, mma is gay... I ask you this.. What need MORE cardio? go 12 hard rounds(3minutes) of boxing at a high pace with a lot of punches and clinch, or 5 rounds(5 minutes, at high space in MMA with a lot of striking, clinching, sprawling, on the ground.. I just want your opinion.. i'm a good athlete, have boxed, still box. good cardio, I can go 6 rounds with 100 percent cardio in sparring(boxing).. now take lesson of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu..and damn when I spare with other guy..my cardio cant held long lol..from personal experience, I do think that MMA need more cardio..but that's personal, maybe thats different with you!
I agree 100 percent ive did boxing and mma and the moment I started grappling I knew then id have to step up my cardio rolling around,spinning side to side,a guy laying on you and choking you out or cutting off the amount of air you can breathe ETC its so damn taxing.
It's different types of conditioning. I agree there are more opportunites to 'take a breather' in boxing. Boxing is closer to being purely aerobic conditioning, while MMA is more towards anaerobic on that scale. Conditioning is specific; you can be in shape to do one thing and not another - when I'm at my fittest from roadwork I'm still gasping like an octogenarian asthmatic in the pool unless I actually put time in in the pool.
Polymath has it spot on. Boxing is more of a marathon and wrestling-type sport is more of a sprint. Hence, aerobic/anaerobic. MMA kinda requires both so its something in between, you'd have to be conditioned for both, which is very hard. So you gota do both. When I used to work on conditioning I could roll for 6minutes full force. But after 6 minutes of boxing I was dying. Different muscle groups at different intensity.
Polymath got it. Boxing is much closer to pure aerobic activity than the grappling component of mixed martial arts is. I know guys who can wrestle nonstop at a high pace for awhile that can't shadowbox at high intensity for 3-4 rounds.
