It is sort of funny how body types get translated into MMA.

[WarDronx]

I was thinking of starting a thread on the effects of the visual aspect/physique/image on the perception of fighters by the fans and even other fighters and the criticism they receive even for miniscule

"imperfections" on their bodies. I could understand that in areas like modelling where your looks are the basic asset (even though my personal opinion differs) but in fighting? Anyone that has trained at any

level or even just watched fighting has probably seen many fighters possess skills and conditioning without looking the part at all and well-built guys that can't even take a punch in training. Yet this mindset

is still very widespread and the "look" of fighters is talked about like a measure of their worth among "fans" that should have a basic understanding and even by other fighters that should obviously know better.

Could go on about why this might be happening but it would not be something to talk about on the Internet, on a MMA forum.

 

[Congo66]

If there was a time machine to take Overeem back to the 1950's Marciano wouldn't be undefeated.
If the time machine brought Marciano forward in time and put him in with Joshua or Wilder he probably wouldn't last a round.

It's not the 1950's any more.

 

[1.11]

Were designer steroids around back then?

 

[frye666]

Overeem's one of the best heavyweights of all time, I don't think his fans have anything to do with his body.... what a ridiculous claim. Like yeah when he was Ubereem his body was obviously insane, but so was his success in the cage. I do not see what your point is at all.

If there was a time machine to take Overeem back to the 1950's Marciano wouldn't be undefeated.
If the time machine brought Marciano forward in time and put him in with Joshua or Wilder he probably wouldn't last a round.

It's not the 1950's any more.

And there it is.

 

[Megatronlee]

What's your point? There is no denying that Roy Nelson is obese and that it's detrimental for athletes to be obese. Overeem has a very long career and has fought in some of the most popular orgs at a high level over a crazy long time which is likelier why he has fans, not his admittedly great body.

Marciano is completely irrelevant in this discussion, a fighter from over half a century ago. Modern heavyweights are significantly bigger in height and weight.

Roy isn’t obese. Do you know the definition of OBESE?

 

[Congo66]

And there it is.

What? Common sense?

Watch some Marciano fights and look at the people he's fighting, they weren't 6 foot 6 and 240 lbs.
If being the size and build of Marciano was effective then all the current HWs would look like him now and be 5 foot 9 and under 200 lbs.

 

[Alphaboy]

Overeem has legions of worshipers, yet does not have a great record compared to a lot of the top heavyweights. But that bod! And Roy Nelson among a few other fighters get called morbidly obese. I am not saying everyone does this, but the kids really fall into this trap.

So this is what the only undefeated heavyweight boxer looks like. This guy won 49 fights, 43 by KO.
He actually only weighed around 185 lb's for most of his career.

There is a reason Rocky Marciano doesn't come up in the topics of 'greatest of all time' conversations...

In any case, most of the aesthetically nice bodies don't necessarily do better athletically. Strongmen do not look like professional bodybuilders.

With that said, there are a lot of good fighters who still have defined muscles, such as Romero and Overeem to name a few. And hell, even McGregor.

 

[Alxair]

Roy isn’t obese. Do you know the definition of OBESE?

Well the most common ways to determine whether someone is obese is either by BMI or more accurate by measuring fat%. BMI wise he is irrefutably obese, bodyfat% is tougher because I have no data for it and have to rely on eyetest which is admittedly unreliable but guys with guts like Nelsons can absolutely clock in at 30% and above bodyfat% and that's far above the starting point at which people are considered obese. Nelson clearly is a very powerful man but he does have flab everywhere and it's abundantly clear that he is obese.

Honestly, if you don't think Roy is obese, you might want to check your eyesight.

 

[Benoitthegr8]

LHW Pride era Reem fan because of his ability to end fights like this...

Reem is a legend, sure he’s got some bad losses, but show me any HW who has 70+ pro fights without getting KTFO...

 

[Megatronlee]

Well the most common ways to determine whether someone is obese is either by BMI or more accurate by measuring fat%. BMI wise he is irrefutably obese, bodyfat% is tougher because I have no data for it and have to rely on eyetest which is admittedly unreliable but guys with guts like Nelsons can absolutely clock in at 30% and above bodyfat% and that's far above the starting point at which people are considered obese. Nelson clearly is a very powerful man but he does have flab everywhere and it's abundantly clear that he is obese.

Honestly, if you don't think Roy is obese, you might want to check your eyesight.

Google obese people online and show me ONE who is built like roy

 

[MilesAbove]

Overeem has legions of worshipers, yet does not have a great record compared to a lot of the top heavyweights. But that bod! And Roy Nelson among a few other fighters get called morbidly obese. I am not saying everyone does this, but the kids really fall into this trap.

So this is what the only undefeated heavyweight boxer looks like. This guy won 49 fights, 43 by KO.
He actually only weighed around 185 lb's for most of his career.

You're posting a fighter form a time when they didn't realize smoking was bad and butter was fattening. You're posting from a time when running was considered a fun passtime with few benefits to health.

 

[Alxair]

Google obese people online and show me ONE who is built like roy

This one looks obese. Obesity doesn't start at 600 lbs, it starts much sooner. That's part of the problem why more and more people get insanely fat. People forgot what normal looks like. This is not normal, this is obese.

 

[FrontNakedChoke]

Obligatory

 

[Ozze]

Are you for real?

Trying to compare a guy from the 50's?
Any fucker from the 50's is gonna look lame compared to athletes from today.

And you bet your ass that if roided Ubereem came up to fight boxing in the 50's people would pay fucking attention.

 

[Oregonmma]

And there it is.

You are probably the least comprehensive person on this forum.

 

[DS66]

Google obese people online and show me ONE who is built like roy

Roy is technically obese, you can't really argue that. A man who is 6' 260 lbs with that much body fat, is objectively obese.

With that said, Roy is a freak of nature obviously. The amount that he works out and the way he moves, it just doesn't make sense at all that he's obese. But he is.

 

[Oregonmma]

Roy is technically obese, you can't really argue that. A man who is 6' 260 lbs with that much body fat, is objectively obese.

With that said, Roy is a freak of nature obviously. The amount that he works out and the way he moves, it just doesn't make sense at all that he's obese. But he is.

Guarantee he eats like absolute shit. That’s how you work out a lot and have a body like him.

 

[Chok Sok Te]

Your point is valid, I like Hunt because of his body

 

[blaseblah]

So this is what the only undefeated heavyweight boxer looks like. This guy won 49 fights, 43 by KO.
He actually only weighed around 185 lb's for most of his career.

He also fought in a weaker division and retired early at 32.

 

[Bacco]