How long does it really take an elite striker to train to crossover and dominate the sport of MMA?

Depends on the individual, the quality and overall stylistic leanings of the division at the time, and if the UFC is willing to fast track them and/or give them favourable match ups.
 
TITS said:
I've never seen you post in the UFC forum before, until after Ngannou got canvassed. The writing is on the wall.
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LMAO yeah sure noob, you would've missed me that first decade I was posting before you knew what MMA was.

Hellowhosthat said:
Alex has been training for years. He first fought in MMA in 2015.
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Ok but the questions are then
- how long did he need to train MMA to be able to compete
- how long before he was able to compete with elite level competition
 
TheMaster said:
A few months is a stretch. If training full time then maybe a year you could get by enough to compete and two years maybe make it to the top level I would say. I dont believe Alex Pereira really trained that long before switched over, and he was still fighting kickboxing during that time.
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a few months if it’s someone who is athletically gifted (e.g., someone like young jon jones), and training every day. but i agree, it would likely take much longer for the average boxer, especially if they have zero experience with any kind of grappling or wrestling. a kickboxer would have an easier time because they’re used to checking leg kicks.

it does seem like it’s more common these days for boxers to have some kind of grappling training, even if they aren’t using it. does aj know any wrestling or jj? he might already know some basics.
 
TheMaster said:
LMAO yeah sure noob, you would've missed me that first decade I was posting before you knew what MMA was.


Ok but the questions are then
- how long did he need to train MMA to be able to compete
- how long before he was able to compete with elite level competition
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Quite a while. He lost to Ottoni (who to be fair has developed into a decent fighter himself over the years) and then it was a while later before he felt comfortable trying again.

Doumbe seems to be adapting pretty well he was doing better with Baki than I figured he would.

Thought theoretically it should be a bit easier for kickboxers to adapt seeing as they're already used to dealing with kicks, knees and elbows.
 
Goutfather said:
a few months if it’s someone who is athletically gifted (e.g., someone like young jon jones), and training every day. but i agree, it would likely take much longer for the average boxer, especially if they have zero experience with any kind of grappling or wrestling. a kickboxer would have an easier time because they’re used to checking leg kicks.

it does seem like it’s more common these days for boxers to have some kind of grappling training, even if they aren’t using it. does aj know any wrestling or jj? he might already know some basics.
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Terrence Crawford I believe is a decent wrestler, he's the guy who sounds like he'd have the best chance of adapting quickly.
 
Hellowhosthat said:
Depends entirely on the fighter, obviously. Some people pick it up very quickly, some people never adapt well at all.

Claressa Shields for example is arguably the best female boxer in the world but despite the fact she's been training MMA for a few years now she still barely scrapes by absolute cans.
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Thread/
 
Who is the best boxing cross over?

Serious question. Plenty of kick boxers but can't think of any boxers.



Learning grappling and kicking is a hell of a learning curve.
 
World eater said:
Pereira wasn’t, but Mirko absolutely was a boxer. And a kickboxer.
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Just looking at wiki, it seems like boxing was side line at best.

National amateur champion 3 times, Croatia.

G-Sot was Victorian state amateur champion and Victoria has about double the population of Croatia.
 
TheMaster said:
We have seen high level strikers like Cro Cop, Alex Pereira, Adesanya, transition to MMA and dominate the sport.
We have also seen how most MMA fighters chins generally do not hold up vs elite strikers and they aren't used to taking that kind of force.

How long does it actually take for an elite striker like Anthony Joshua for example, if they went all in training to work sufficient sprawl and basic defensive grapping to be able to compete and rise to the top in MMA?
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All 3 guys mentioned have excellent kicking games. Different styles of kicking but excellent nonetheless.

I don’t think you can be considered an “elite striker” without at least a decent kicking game no matter how good the hands are. Assuming 34 year old Anthony Joshua has never thrown a proper kick like I’d imagine… I’d say it would take at least a year more likely two just to get comfortable with MMA stand up striking/defense and that’s factoring in his athleticism, talent and training/work ethic. Factor in that basic sprawl/defensive grappling and it’s a lot of holes to fill. MMA fighters chins may not hold up as well compared to boxers in general but a few leg/calf kicks would easily fold Joshua. You put up Joshua against a guy with zero take down threat like Cyril Gane and I’m positive Gane still styles on him even if AJ trained hard for 3 years.
 
Squintz said:
All 3 guys mentioned have excellent kicking games. Different styles of kicking but excellent nonetheless.

I don’t think you can be considered an “elite striker” without at least a decent kicking game no matter how good the hands are. Assuming 34 year old Anthony Joshua has never thrown a proper kick like I’d imagine… I’d say it would take at least a year more likely two just to get comfortable with MMA stand up striking/defense and that’s factoring in his athleticism, talent and training/work ethic. Factor in that basic sprawl/defensive grappling and it’s a lot of holes to fill. MMA fighters chins may not hold up as well compared to boxers in general but a few leg/calf kicks would easily fold Joshua. You put up Joshua against a guy with zero take down threat like Cyril Gane and I’m positive Gane still styles on him even if AJ trained hard for 3 years.
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Kicking is a definite tool but its not essential in MMA. Boxers would definitely have to get used to taking leg kicks but guys like Rampage and JDS used basically just boxing and both were champions. They also seldom checked kicks just took them or avoided.
 
TheMaster said:
Kicking is a definite tool but its not essential in MMA. Boxers would definitely have to get used to taking leg kicks but guys like Rampage and JDS used basically just boxing and both were champions. They also seldom checked kicks just took them or avoided.
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Stipe, Gonzaga, Carwin. Aside from Cain those are the only 3 guys to ever take JDS down and they each got 1 takedown. JDS was able to box up almost everyone cause he didn’t have to worry about take down threats and he was a better boxer than everyone else at the time. He was also very good at checking and getting out of the way of kicks. Then he ran into Cain who beat the shit out him in the 2nd and 3rd fights cause he’s not one dimensional like the rest of his opponents. JDS fell in love with his hands and his title reign was short lived. 1 defense.

Rampage was also great at avoiding takedowns and he had better hands than most so he took advantage of that. It didn’t take him very far though at least not as far as I think it should’ve. Considering his chin, striking, tdd, wrestling etc there’s no reason why his title reign shouldn’t have been longer…. until Jones came along at least. He literally defended the belt once and lost it to Forrest Griffin out of all fighters. Why? He fell in love with his hands after knocking down Griffin but he decided to eat a shit ton of leg kicks that hurt him and slowed him down. How you gonna be Rampage and get out stuck by FG?

Only other time Rampage got a title shot… this was the beginning of the end.

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Depends what weightclass you're in, the lower you go the longer it will take to learn the skills. A few years at least for the lower weightclasses, and a year or 2 for heavyweight?
 
HeffDoesWant said:
Just looking at wiki, it seems like boxing was side line at best.

National amateur champion 3 times, Croatia.

G-Sot was Victorian state amateur champion and Victoria has about double the population of Croatia.
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Cro Cop beat World amateur boxing HW champion Sinan Samil Sam of Turkey in Acropolis Cup in Greece in 1997.
http://amateur-boxing.strefa.pl/Tournaments/AcropolisCup1997.html
Mirko Filipovic boxed against some of the world's best amateur boxers of that time representing Croatia on international competitions. He boxed against Olympic and world champions and medailists:
Alexei Lezin, Alexis Rubalcaba, Sinan Samil Sam, Siraghei Liakhovich, Paolo Vidoz.
 
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HeffDoesWant said:
Just looking at wiki, it seems like boxing was side line at best.

National amateur champion 3 times, Croatia.

G-Sot was Victorian state amateur champion and Victoria has about double the population of Croatia.
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So?
He had almost 90 boxing matches. It means he trained boxing extensively not that he was a good pro. He started as a boxer and then switched.
 
this thread reminded me of Overeem when he switched over to kickboxing and rose to the top of that sport very fast. even crazier thing is that he was not known having a great chin.

people used to argue that K-1 level strikers were not all that great because of how Overeem won the Grand Prix and old man Cro Cop. Funny how the times change.

I guess to answer the question though it really depends on the fighter.
 
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