Ice debate/discussion last night with Ken Shamrock...

Missed and got slammed on his head? That sounds like something that might happen in a boxing match...

oh wait, that actually sounds more like something that would happen in MMA.

The biggest difference between a street fight and an MMA fight is that there is no referee to break you up from the clinch. Dirty boxing, headlocks, and ground game seem to be very important in a street fight and almost irrelevant in a boxing match (dirty boxing aside, if you are Bernard Hopkins or Ricky Hatton).

The truth is, whenever a street fight ends on the ground with one guy on top of the other pounding him, boxing skills are irrelevant. Being able to get on top of the guy and being able to pound him is more of an MMA thing.

 

I WILL ARGUE THAT POINT!!111one

MMA striking is so amazingly different than boxing or kickboxing striking that, to a traditional boxer or kickboxer, it may look completely amateurish.

First off, striking in MMA is not always purely for striking's sake. When Renzo Gracie throws a jab or a low kick, he probably doesn't give a **** if it is weak, or if it's going to hit, or how much damage it will do. He is throwing it simply to put his opponent on the defensive so he can rush into the clinch. In that situation, a wide punch, or a looping punch, or a punch with no snap on it, may be the better tactical choice.

Secondly, some strikes in MMA seem as if they are wildly telegraphed, thrown by a slugger with no boxing skills at all. The very clear reason for this is that MMA defense is DIFFERENT than boxing defense. Bobbing and weaving is great defense in boxing, but TERRIBLE defense in MMA. When you must also be worried about takedowns and kicks, suddenly ducking under a left hook to take a knee to the face doesn't seem like a great proposition. With this lack of head movement in mind, it makes more sense for strikers to throw their punches with bad bad intentions. Sure, Anderson Silva might throw an overhand right that looks terrible to a boxing fan, but when his opponent slips it down and to the elft, just to see a flying knee go right into his face, the punch suddenly has much more merit. On the flip side, if the opponent does not slip the punch, perhaps the punch results in a KO, due to all of the force behind it. The strike has succeeded, but to a boxing fan, it just seems as if the opponent has a terrible defense.

Finally, beautiful punch combinations rarely occur in MMA. It would seem as if the strikers just don't know how to put their punches together. This is also inaccurate. I love to see a good 1-2-3-4-3-2 just as much as anyone, but in an MMA fight, the length of time you must stand directly in front of your opponent to pull this very pretty combination off is far too long for it to be effective. After the first uppercut, the opponent is probably going to clinch you, and if not, drop levels and shoot on you. It is unwise to throw a punch combination of more than about 3 punches in any MMA fight, ESPECIALLY if you want to keep the fight standing, because your opponent will probably clinch you, or worse, take you down for standing in front of him for so long.

It is important to realize that MMA and boxing are two completely different sports, and as such, they require very different sorts of striking. Many skills a boxer has, going to the body, ducking and weaving, pecking away behind a jab all fight to set up beautiful 5-7 punch combinations, just don't usually work in an MMA fight.

 

boxing and mma are nothing like a street fight. Because in a street fight if someone grabs you, you can poke their eyes out, grab their balls, bite them, take out a knife, etc... I might not want to grapple someone in a street fight. Most of the street fights ive been have been me throwing a punch when they didnt see one coming and knocking them the **** out. the other ones were one of my boys getting swooped, and me and the boys crashing someone picnic 10 v 1. I have also had my share of it being me vs 2 or me vs 3. not fun, but I still got the first shot off. if mma or ufc guys say that thier sport is more like real fighting, they dont know what the **** they are talking about. street fights have no rules boxing and mma do. as for the sports, I really like mma. I think over time it will develop more to a boxing like fight, beczasue for some reason i dont see any of those guys going for the body. And if a grappler tries to grab you, thats a free body shot right there. Whoever can perfect that will own that sport.

 

i enjoy the boxing part of mma but dont like the fact they roll about on top of each other, so there is no way i would ever rank mma higher. Well done for sticking up for the sport ice.