Why do HWs have such better chins than smaller guys?

I'm going to go punch my woman. I'm sure her cranium can take it.
 
Stronger neck muscles. More of the impact is transferred via a stronger neck to the body, meaning less of it is used to accelerate the skull, meaning the skull doesn't collide as quickly or forcefully with the brain floating inside it.

George Chuvalo (top 4 HW in the 60's who was never knocked down despite fighting guys like Foreman and Frazier - was stopped on TKO's though, tended to swell up on the eyes), and who is still completely lucid with zero speech slurring in his 70's, has written on how that works.

George used to work his neck intensely just for that reason - worked extremely well. Think of it this way: F = ma, so if m is just your head mass then you get a big acceration. But if your head is more or less fixed to your body, then m is the mass of head and upper body, so a much smaller acceleration of the head, meaning far less impact on brain, meaning a much stronger chin.
good response. chuvalo is a legend
 
A HWs punching power is going to be like 5 times stronger than a LW but just the neck muscle isn't that much stronger.

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Stronger neck muscles. More of the impact is transferred via a stronger neck to the body, meaning less of it is used to accelerate the skull, meaning the skull doesn't collide as quickly or forcefully with the brain floating inside it.

George Chuvalo (top 4 HW in the 60's who was never knocked down despite fighting guys like Foreman and Frazier - was stopped on TKO's though, tended to swell up on the eyes), and who is still completely lucid with zero speech slurring in his 70's, has written on how that works.

George used to work his neck intensely just for that reason - worked extremely well. Think of it this way: F = ma, so if m is just your head mass then you get a big acceration. But if your head is more or less fixed to your body, then m is the mass of head and upper body, so a much smaller acceleration of the head, meaning far less impact on brain, meaning a much stronger chin.
Great response. Also, most HWs seem to be HWs because they can take big shots. If they couldn't then they would cut weight or never make it past the amateur circuit.
 
If you put DJ up on a pedestal and let him take a full power swing at a heavy weight he'd most certainly knock the guy out. But in an actual bout DJ has to punch upwards over an foot to hit a guy like Ngannou in the chin. It's tough to hit a guy that much taller than you clean on the chin with any type of rotational force.

what a heavyweight can take much better than a littler guy are body shots from a smaller man. DJ won't be hurting Ngannou much with body shots unless they're perfectly placed.
 
Because fighting is physiology, and nature wants the more formidable man to win.

Lean mass distributed in an androgenic pattern most CERTAINLY helps in absorbing punches. Stronger and thicker trapezius, occipitalis, temporalis all help absorb energy.

A bigger, thicker head and mandible also absorbs more energy simply by more mass.

Heavyweights have bigger frames and much more lean muscle mass. It's really that simple.
 
You're wrong about the neck thing, for one. Those muscles absolutely absorb impact, and a larger man will have much stronger neck muscles. Secondly, a knockout is from the rapid acceleration of the jaw being moved; the speed of it being accelerated by a hit will rattle the brain, causing a minor concussion and subsequent loss of consciousness. It's why dudes get knocked out easier when they are moving into the strike, since the angular acceleration and rotation of the head and jaw is even faster.

Think of it this way; a smaller fighter punches faster in most cases, but doesn't have as much mass and strength propelling that mass behind their punch. If they hit a larger fighter, the sheer mass of the larger fighter, mixed with their stronger musculature and body mechanics, will slow down the punch of the fighter with less mass and force at the moment of impact, and thus the acceleration of the jaw caused by the strike is significantly reduced.

A larger fighter generally punches much slower, but the mass and strength behind their punch will not lose anywhere near as much speed and force, since the mass and strength pushing that mass are much heavier and stronger, and thus the acceleration of the jaw on impact ends up being much more than a smaller guy hitting a larger guy.

There are a few other variables you can throw in when it comes to body mechanics and frame. For one, larger-framed guys tend to have thicker bone mass and stronger ligaments due to carrying more weight around and lifting more weight during training which strengthens them, and the strength and weight of the bones and ligaments also aids in slowing down the acceleration via punch. Being knocked out a bunch weakens those bones and ligaments and you end up with a big guy who gets knocked out a lot, like Overeem. Overeem is another good example of a disproportionate body frame; he has a tiny little pinhead on Superman's body, and thus his head doesn't soften blows or spread the impact through the skull as much as a guy like Mark Hunt, who has a massive, thick skull, proportionate body frame, and is known for taking tremendous punches like they were nothing. Here's a comparison:
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Your premise is flawed in that skulls are NOT the same size, hence why hats have different sizes. Plus denser bones, plus much stronger stabilizing muscles to prevent the head from shaking.
 
The craniums are the same size; everyones got the same brain size. A neck muscle really doesn't get THAT much stronger as you get bigger. A HWs punching power is going to be like 5 times stronger than a LW but just the neck muscle isn't that much stronger.
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which of these guys would you least want to get headbutted by? Skull mass goes up with weight class, with some exceptions- Tito's head is bigger than most HW's and Overeem's whole head could fit inside it.
 
Chin is a social construct, it is psychological. In true warfare weight does not matter, a warrior like Platinum Mike Perry could easily hang in there with someone like Overeem solely based on heart and black belt hands

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which of these guys would you least want to get headbutted by? Skull mass goes up with weight class, with some exceptions- Tito's head is bigger than most HW's and Overeem's whole head could fit inside it.

Poor Overeem with his tiny tiny pea-sized head. Even at LHW before the horsemeat it was still pretty small. No wonder Ngannou's lunchbox fists almost decapitated it.

Compare Overeem's head to Bobu Sappu's

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Fitch-Velasquez-Rockhold.jpg

which of these guys would you least want to get headbutted by? Skull mass goes up with weight class, with some exceptions- Tito's head is bigger than most HW's and Overeem's whole head could fit inside it.

Cain is just fatter and closer to the camera.
 
A smaller man simply could not take punches from a HW. A HW could take shots from a smaller man all day long.

The craniums are the same size; everyones got the same brain size. A neck muscle really doesn't get THAT much stronger as you get bigger. A HWs punching power is going to be like 5 times stronger than a LW but just the neck muscle isn't that much stronger.

Why can HWs take so much harder shots?

I think it's just an internalized frame of mind. If a LW really had the internal confidence that he COULD take HW shots then I think he could. If a HW thought that he was as weak as a LW, he'd go down to those shots too.

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Last I checked the big boys were all sparking each others lights out right left and centre.
 
Of all the literate opening posts I've seen, this might be the stupidest.
 
Heavyweights aren't bigger, they're just closer to the camera. Size is one of the biggest myths in MMA.
 
This is a troll thread right?

Good god I hope so....
 
Did Sherdog get stupider these last couple years...
 
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