MMA because you basically train every discipline allowed on that sport.. If you want to be a good stand-up fighter you need be good with punches, kicks, knees and elbows.. If you want to be a good ground fighter you need to develop your grappling skills like jiu jitsu and wrestling.. Obviously you need to be able to put your opponent on the ground you need to take him down, Judo would be a very big help.. That's not even all of them and you won't know what would hurt you in there so you'd better be ready for evrything.. Ask me what sport do I love more? My answer is Boxing.. :bbb
They are probably both equally difficult. Boxing is a specialist sport and mma is a generalist sport. It's like asking which is harder a marathon or a decathlon? If you want to see the very best striking technique on the planet you will watch boxing or kickboxing. If you want to see good wrestling you watch NCAA college wrestling or jiu jitsu matches. If you want to see a mix of wrestling and kickboxing you watch mma. They've all got their points for and against them. Personally, when I watch it I get the feeling that mma is more a regional sport whereas boxing has ten times as many high level athletes since it's a more international sport. That makes the competitive level tougher at the high end, but I'd say that a good deal of ESPN's Friday Night Fight journeymen are comparable in skill to the typical Bellator card and certain UFC undercards. At the higher end of things they have Jon Jones, who's head and shoulders above the rest of the UFC or mma community. I think we have a Jon Jones level elite athlete in almost every weight class. Also, I find wrestling boring.
See that's the thing in BJJ tourney's just like boxing you are limited ...Both sports are extremely difficult and require extreme conditioning but when talking about MMA as a whole you have guys who are not as well versed thus not as well conditioned .. I look at guys like Roy. Nelson , I think he gets the breaks beat off him in a BJJ tourney or a boxing match but in MMA since you have striking he can get away with his lack of conditioning because of his power..But put him In there with a finely tuned athlete and he gets smoked ..Both sports are very difficult !
This is the problem with MMA - when it degenerates into a wrestling match on the ground, it's boring as hell to watch. It may be just as difficult to participate in - and in that sense I respect the athletes for the effort they put in - but from a fan's perspective, it's visually dull. When these MMA fights hit the ground, I just want to take a nap!
I can't see a problem with liking both sports, and it seems you are of the same opinion. As to the question as to which is harder; harder in what way? They are brutal in different ways, to be honest. I only dabbled in boxing, but a friend has done several martial arts, and he says the wrestling was the part that gassed him most; mauling is incredibly tiring! The whole boxer vs MMA thing is crazy, really. The only boxers who try MMA are has beens like Toney and Mercer. That said, a boxer would either have to be like a Tyson and kayo the MMA guy quickly or be elusive for the duration of the fight, which is even harder. I think a quality, prime boxer kayos any MMA fighter; but if and when it goes to the ground he is history!
