Can we finally put an end to this “NFL/NBA players would dominate UFC if they trained” nonsense?

[Domitian]

There are guys in the NFL and NBA who would probably destroy everyone, but most of them wouldn't. Most guys don't have the mentality to fight, and I think people forget that people in the NFL or NBA has been playing their sport their entire lives, as much as athleticism matters, these are skill sports that require years of experience to be elite at, and if you start too late it gets very hard, same as fighting.

TS said if JJ Watt or Lebron started training at 18 they would get knocked out by no names. Imagine fighting JJ Watt who's been training mma for over a decade. <Lmaoo>

Even right now, Jon's bro Chandler trains MMA in the off season. I wouldn't fuck with him.

 

[Orochimaru 大蛇丸]

TS said if JJ Watt or Lebron started training at 18 they would get knocked out by no names. Imagine fighting JJ Watt who's been training mma for over a decade. <Lmaoo>

Even right now, Jon's bro Chandler trains MMA in the off season. I wouldn't fuck with him.

Yeah that's insane, I think they would both be champs if they started at 18

 

[Xandros476]

Yeah and I'd say the evidence is the opposite of what TS is suggesting with Hardy. Let's look at all the superior athletes in MMA:

Lesnar, GSP, Cejudo, Cormier, Jones, probably toss in Ngannou,


lol

Dominick Reyes was a HS football player, maybe he played like JUCO or D3. Soccer players are not better athletes, the sport doesn't rely on athleticism nearly as much as NFL/NBA do.

I really do hate when euro guys just jerk off about soccer even though it's clearly far more of a skill sport in general. There's plenty of good to great athletes in soccer, but no it's not even close to the NFL or NBA on average.

"Most NFL guys are fat! they'd gas!" Okay so no one is allowed to hypothetically train for MMA? Every soccer guy, who I agree has better long-pace cardio in general, would be gassing out too if they did MMA. They stand around or jog or brisk walk most of the time, they aren't grappling a striking and going at a pace of 5 min rounds with nearly constant action.

The Reyes comp is like comparing to a shitty MLS player.

I think soccer players are incredible athletes, it’s just a different kind of athleticism from say an NFL player or an NBA, and certainly an mma fighter. People have these very rigid definitions of what athleticism is and that shouldn’t be. Which is why these discussions of which sport has the better athletes are kind of foolish.. each athlete is specifically conditioned to compete in the respective sport… now which ones would transition better to MMA? Probably football players, but who the hell knows..

 

[Al Stone]

That debate was always wrong anyway. The best athletes on earth are gymnasts.

You would have a very strong argument if not for the irrefutable fact that gymnastic ability decreases with size almost flawlessly. However I agree A level gymnast physique that trained for mma would be insane

 

[Al Stone]

I think soccer players are incredible athletes, it’s just a different kind of athleticism from say an NFL player or an NBA, and certainly an mma fighter. People have these very rigid definitions of what athleticism is and that shouldn’t be. Which is why these discussions of which sport has the better athletes are kind of foolish.. each athlete is specifically conditioned to compete in the respective sport… now which ones would transition better to MMA? Probably football players, but who the hell knows..

It bears argument that most people in mma if not all failed at their desired sport. Just couldn’t make it athletically

 

[wwkirk]

Cyril Gane started his MMA career after Greg Hardy.

That’s right, NFL pro bowler Greg Hardy has trained for MMA longer (and with a better team by far) than Gane. Yet Gane would absolutely smoke him because he’s just way faster, way more fit, and way more skilled.

Americans be like: Impossible! Gane is a French cupcake! Hardy played football! That means he’s the best athlete and can beat everyone else!

Just face it guys. There are people out there that are significantly more athletic than even NFL and NBA stars. And lots of them are randoms dudes like Gane was 3 years ago. Dudes you’d have never even heard of.

Even if LeBron or JJ Watt trained for MMA from the time they were 18, there would be some no name guy out there who would flatline them in the UFC.

Weird example. Gane was already an accomplished Muay Thai fighter! Many fighters from other combat sports have become successful in MMA. Pick a more logical example.

 

[TheAlliance]

Take any one NFL team’s Defence… those guys would annihilate the entire NBA league…. I don’t know why we’re putting the NBA in the same category with the NFL or even MMA…

 

[Xandros476]

It bears argument that most people in mma if not all failed at their desired sport. Just couldn’t make it athletically

It’s certainly an interesting point. I’m not sure what that means for MMA, but it’s interesting nonetheless

 

[Al Stone]

It’s certainly an interesting point. I’m not sure what that means for MMA, but it’s interesting nonetheless

You know boss man. You know. See if I tell the truth they gone come out like I threw hot water and get me banned. You be the hand that delivers the truth

 

[WishFufilled]

Sad truth is, these supposed A level athletes are on STEROIDS and other PEDs in their own sport, no one in pro sports at a high level is clean especially when you hit your 30s.

The thing is all humans are athletic, we evolved from monkeys and needed athleticism to survive, hunt, run from apex predators/chase. Having the ability to catch a ball or hoop a basketball when you’re already tall enough to touch the rim really won’t do much in a real fight.

UFC still has guys especially in the lighter divisions who are A level athletes who are just simply too small to do any other sport. Greg Hardy doesn’t even have fast hand speed, you literally see fighters faster than him and stronger.

Testosterone makes you 200% more athletic which is why guys like Belfort became explosive fast and powerful when on the juice.

 

[SHAZAM]

Athleticism aka jumping high, running fast and lifting heavy won't even make you the best in your own sport so athleticism is overrated.

Them skinny twigs that ride bikes for days, yeah... Their cardio would become irrelevant 10 seconds in after leg kicks.

 

[UFCIsNOTRigged]

Well first of all wasn't Gane an accomplished kickboxer/striker prior to MMA?

Secondly, athleticism is one thing and NBA/NFL athletes on average are clearly light years ahead of MMA athletes. So it does matter. But that's only one piece of the pie and it's totally disregarding all the intangibles and measurables that go into fighting like:

- Heart, Will power, toughness
- Cardio
- all the specific traits for striking and grappling (think Khabib or Izzy excel at that aren't necessarily focused on in other sports)

I also think Hardy is probably( (potentially!) blasting less than he was in the NFL, a bit washed, and clearly he's a good athlete for MMA but has rudimentary striking/grappling and horrible cardio pretty much.

Gane was as accomplished as one could be, on the French Muay Thai scene. He was a 2x national champion within three years of training and offered a GLORY contract. He also beat the top ranked Muay Thai Super HW in the world (2018-2020).

Its a stretch to call Ganes foray into Muay Thai a "career" as he only had thirteen fights over the three years he trained Muay Thai.

Gane is a freak athlete though of the highest caliber and should be viewed as the exception not the rule.

 

[CorninginChristianburg]

The premise is really stupid. Gane was a kickboxer before he joined MMA, he made his kickboxing debut in 2014, Hardy made his MMA debut in 2017. It's like all the wrestlers who pick up MMA faster than Hardy as well, of course if you have a base in a combat sport you'll learn combat better than if you have a background in a non-combat sport. That proves nothing.

Neither do, for that matter, small sample sizes. Many kickboxers don't become good MMA fighters. Many wrestlers don't become good MMA fighters. If you have a sample size of one, it's worthless.

I think fans of other sports are really insecure about how much NFL and NBA athletes get paid and how much attention they get. Those sports are more financially viable, and their education/training is more accessible, so more people do those sports, so more elite athletes are in those sports. That doesn't mean there aren't elite athletes in MMA, or that every elite athlete will be an elite MMA fighter, any more than any elite athlete could become an elite basketball player. And there also don't need to be silly classifications for athletes, what is "A" level or "B" level, no one case. There are multiple ways to be athletic, you can run super fast, or super long, or lift a lot, or stretch a lot. But I think it's a mark of insecurity in fans of other sports with regards to NFL or NBA players that say you see Andrew Billings breaking the lifting record, or DK Metcalf running in the Olympic Qualifiers, or Anthony Schwartz representing the US in the World U20 Championships and all you can say is "oh those aren't elite athletes" or "they're on PEDs unlike MMA fighters supposedly" or "there's some intangible part of MMA that they could totally never get."

 

[Area809]

I’m happy to stop the debate about this, but people like you insist on bringing it up.

 

[No Skill Gap]

I think soccer players are incredible athletes, it’s just a different kind of athleticism from say an NFL player or an NBA, and certainly an mma fighter. People have these very rigid definitions of what athleticism is and that shouldn’t be. Which is why these discussions of which sport has the better athletes are kind of foolish.. each athlete is specifically conditioned to compete in the respective sport… now which ones would transition better to MMA? Probably football players, but who the hell knows..

I still think the athletic requirements to play soccer at a high level is lower than the NFL/NBA but I understand what you're saying.

There's obviously different traits that are basically required to excel at MMA, which include that cardio and muscular endurance at a certain pace which is crazy like boxing except...you know with the grappling.

You could think Jose Aldo who was a soccer player on some level decently, and he had amazing kicks. He was clearly pretty athletic, but his kicking power/skill is probably more of a function of the skill of soccer. Where as I think Jon Jones wasn't even "athletic enough" to play football perhaps mainly due to size or just in general (unlike his brothers, one was pretty fucking athletic, the other was okay on NFL standards), but he came into MMA and was just way more athletic than everyone at LHW.

What the answer to this hypothetical athleticism-MMA argument would be, is to have the caliber of athlete like a Russell Westbrook or Tyreek Hill or Julio Jones, Myles Garrett, Byron Jones, Vince Carter, even like Jae Crowder level athleticism, etc....Mike Trout, Luke Kuechly...

And have that raw clay athlete train MMA at a young-ish age. To develop the skills. And I think we've already seen that with Ngannou, Jones, Lesnar in a way (wrestling base though), etc.

 

[LZD]

Skill and cardio are the most important attributes.

 

[Dude Incredible]

"Most NFL guys are fat! they'd gas!" Okay so no one is allowed to hypothetically train for MMA? Every soccer guy, who I agree has better long-pace cardio in general, would be gassing out too if they did MMA. They stand around or jog or brisk walk most of the time, they aren't grappling a striking and going at a pace of 5 min rounds with nearly constant action.

Exactly. It's about training UFC. Some of the most insane body transformations are linemen after their NFL career. Most get in great shape and some even get shredded. The NFL wants them to be bulky so they give them snacks.

As others have said the question is their heart and confidence in the cage. Plenty of fighters lose track of that during camp, right before the fight or even during the fight. I'd like enough money on the table to get some of the acclaimed college recruits and actually see the results and then the debate can actually start, tho I'm a believer that many of those guys can come over and do well.

 

[donkeyjr]

Soccer players are way more athletic than these NFL guys, most of them are fat and wouldn’t stand a chance in a sprint against any of the soccer guys imo. They’d probably gas very fast too in a cage fight.

Look at Dominick Reyes, the guy only got so far with a football background, at the top of the game, skill and mental strength matter more than athleticism although if you have all you got the golden ticket.

The top speed guys in football would smoke the top guys in soccer, wtf are you smoking. Soccer is more of a skill sport..

 

[DRstrange]

95 percent of the PGA golfers would crush any MMA dude if they had 12 weeks to train. Golfers are not to be fucked with. And if you question that, come on out to my golf resort and square up with our club pro.

 

[PlasticFishBowl]

Weird example. Gane was already an accomplished Muay Thai fighter! Many fighters from other combat sports have become successful in MMA. Pick a more logical example.

Ngannou had no combat sports background and has only trained about 5 or 6 years and would leave Hardy in a body bag.