Hey guys, I just wrote up a new article on one of my favourite head movement drills. I always felt lucky to have a boxing coach who was big on head movement as it seems to be lacking big time in MMA. It helped me a ton in my Boxing and MMA over the years. This content is protected I've also started a contest to give away 3 of my 32 video Head Movement Workshops. The draw will be on this Sunday (March 21st) night. To sign up visit This content is protected
Jeff has fought in the UFC and he's got a lot of good articles and videos to check out on his site. Some are more for MMA or jiu jitsu, but some are for boxing too like this one.
Thanks a lot Brown Bomber. This looks like a great site with a ton of boxing knowledge. I'll be reading it often. In my opinion boxing is very underated in MMA and Muay Thai is a little overrated.
I think many up & coming fighters are training a lot of Muay Thai without much focus on the optimal punching mechanics that boxing --under the guidance of a great coach of course-- can offer. A lot more could be learned about footwork, head movement, fighting while moving backwards, relaxing the shoulders and arms while punching, overall punching balance and leverage, multiple punch combinations and a number of other benefits that boxing training would bring to their skill sets. I just don't think a lot of MMA fighters that are already highly skilled in one area of combat can handle not being great a something right away. So they avoid boxing with skilled boxers and instead spar with other MMA guys who possess average punching ability at best. If you throw a straight punch in the UFC they call you a good boxer even though it takes so much more than that. I got a little off track, but my personal opinion is that a strong boxing base blended with the kicks, knees and a little clinch work from Muay Thai is a great mix for standup striking.
I definately agree that most MMA guys don't really know how to box well. Guys like BJ Penn train with top boxing coaches and it shows. I think that people cop out when it comes to head movement because they only focus on the ducking part of it and talk about leaving yourself open to knees. I agree with that one small part, but you don't see them even attempting to change angles or slip punches. Most of the KO punches in MMA come from a looping overhand right punch that catches the guy when he is getting ready to do the same. Chuck Liddell made a career out of that punch.
I watched him fight once, knocked out his opponent pretty quick if I remember correctly. Is he pretty slick with his hands? Always refreshing to some some good punching in the Octagon. Did you watch the Anderson Silva/Damien Maia fight? That one pissed me off. So frustrating to watch.
