Discuss anything MMA here !
I think there are enough of us here that follow the sport to warrant a water cooler thread, so discuss immediately !
EDIT : I am a retard so I somehow quoted myself instead of editing, hence why 3 OPs instead of one.
- what do you think of the McGregor hype ? IMO he’s a very talented fighter with a bright future. However, and nobody seems to be noticing it, he fights with his chin forward and unprotected. I think it’s just a matter of time before this obvious hole in his game is exposed.
- what do you think of the Romero / Kennedy incident ? Should have Romero been disqualified ? I think this is a very tough one. It was obviously a cheap tactic from the cornermen. However, it didn’t grant him an unfair advantage over his opponent. Would he have lost without these 30 seconds to recover (I mean the dude was gassed beyond gassed) ?
Deleted - out of respect for the thread.
Why did you have to do that ? Now this troll will be all over this thread and derail it.
Deleted - Out of respect for the thread.
I’d be more interested in talking about training than watching. What’s your favorite to train? What camp do you train with? Do you plan on competing?
I personally like boxing / sambo the best. I train at broadway bjj, i think ill get a naga tourny in before l3 and (provided i pass) pick up a fight after.
Sure we can talk about training !
I have trained in all sorts of things, let’s say that at the moment I am aiming at the following combination (as I have moved to a new city a couple of weeks ago and am in the process of chosing my sports/clubs):
- Muy Thai + judo
Muy Thai because I love leg kicks and clinch work.
Judo because I prefer it to BJJ and to wrestling.
BJJ is a great art and is necessary ; however I dislike how it is taught in my experience.
I love free-style wrestling, but I am naturally more inclined to use hip throws and sweeps than to go for doubles/singles. On greco, I love it as well, but I dislike the lack of leg attacks.
Your combination is awesome too. I would definitely train sambo if I could but it is very hard to find in Germany.
On competitions, I don’t know, man. I am 34 so I am not getting any younger, and I work in banking. These two factors pretty much eliminate any competition form involving full-contact striking to the face, as well as judo competitions, which might by the most dangerous in terms of injuries.
But I am considering it. Maybe entering a BJJ competition as a white belt could be an idea then I’ll see from there.
I train BJJ, Muay Thai and a little Taekwondo. I boxed for 9 years so my striking is pretty good.
I struggle with groundwork, it’s completely alien to me and because i’m so tall / have long limbs, I find it hard to keep my moves tight and close when grappling. There is so much to remember, it is way more complicated than it looks: 2 dudes rolling around on the floor.
I will not be competing, I get paid too much to risk anything, it’s purely a hobby for me and I love fighting sports, despite not having an aggressive personality at all. I do sometimes get nostalgic when I watch fights on TV though and wish I could be there.
I see what you mean but you can learn to make it your advantage. Tall and lanky grapplers can develop a killer guard and subs like triangles, guillotines. Also, they can be almost impossible to sweep, since they can spread their weight all over the place.
IMO being tall and lanky is an advantage in any combat sport.
MT & Judo is a lethal combo too. I am a green in MT and love clinch work but i hate, repeat hate, checking kicks and even worse i hate getting checked. With that said, i have a wreslting background so sambo comes pretty easy for me but i needed bjj training to learn defenses (i admit i disdain gi work but w/e).
It sounds like you, and africanfarmer, have a similar mindset as myself. You want to compete and test yourself but at a certain point in time you decided that pride you attain from competing is less than the potential gains from your career. I actually came to this realisation when i was 24/5 but still strongly consider getting back into the ring (now 27)
I think it is possible to compete in grappling/BJJ and have a white-collar career. My face comes out bruised maybe 5% of the times I grapple and I can cover some of it with make-up anyways.
Strikes to the face is another story though, and I have sparred stand-up & MMA only with light contact since starting my career.
In any case I think it is also about recognising something that we have in us. I have a perfectly functional career ; I also need violent sports. I wouldn’t be happy in my life if I never got to spar (either grappling / striking).
Yeah I get really envious when I see guys I used to spar with back in the day now doing well in the ring, then I remember that I get paid to sit on my ass all day and don’t have to worry about brain damage, cuts, breaking any bones etc.
I’m still a beginner when it comes to grappling so for me I have to remember the importance of technique and not rely on strength. I love it when we do stand-up sparring though, nobody else at my gym has had real boxing training so I usually mop the floor with them (at the same time it means it’s not challenging and i’m getting into bad habits…).
I haven’t had check a kick shin-to-shin yet but even light contact while practicing is painful, I don’t know how the pros do it.
His hype is legit. Of course he has a lot of holes in his game but like tyson always said its will before skill. and this guy got the will like no other right now. Look at this mofo’s eyes. A killer.
I grapple at renzo gracie’s.
The one in mid town or bk? I went to the one in midtown a few times and wreslted with Max, great place to train.
Usually midtown but also bk occassionaly. So many masters of the game at renzos.
^Max McGarr - it was no gi sub wrestling, if you havent rolled with him def do it. I miss the ny scene, you had renzos, ronin, wat, 5points, and so many boxing gyms all within one area. Then you go to bk and you have the fight academy, gleasons, ardon ss, and many others i never had the luxery of going to.
I think one day ill open an mma gym with strong man equipment too. I’ll pay athletes to train there and put together a team of animals hoping a few make it big to keep me in business.
max is legit for sure. I have a similar goal. mine is to open a mma gym in the hood and let all the kids train for free. then one of the poor tough kids will become champ.
Not so sure I agree with “will before skill”. Top fighters are usually extremely gifted. Also, Tyson is a very bad example. Of course he worked hard, but he also was exceptional in terms of speed and strength.
Jon Jones, Pettis and Aldo are examples of fighters who I am sure don’t have to work out as much as say, GSP to be at the top. I also think Dillashaw is up there in the “exceptional natural talent category”.
Lastly, on McGregor’s killer eyes, I think it’s bullshit, read an act. Even then it’s not relevant. We have seen many cases of fighters who really have a “killer gene” get dismantled by calmer fighters. I think one recent example is Diego Brandao. He got his ass kicked by calm Poirier. Another example : Diego Sanchez. He’s extremely agressive, but it doesn’t help him much.