Comparing Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters and Boxers

Boxers and mixed martial artists are both elite athletes, and are both capable of great feats of skill and technique in their respective combat sports. However despite the fact that they are both combat sports, MMA and boxing are in most other respects a lot different, and because of this the fighters are also. As to which sport is more useful for self defense, there are many contrasting views, although most people will agree that mixed martial arts is the more complete combat system.

Mixed martial arts fighters are generally thought of as being more complete fighters in a real life situation, although of course they can't hit as hard or as accurately as boxers. In a street fight for example MMA is probably more useful in tight spaces, or if the fight goes to the ground, where boxing is essentially nullified. The grappling and submission skills used in MMA on the other hand would mean that an MMA fighter is often just as comfortable on the ground as they are standing up. In most respects either style will work fairly well in a real fight in terms of professional athletes being in that situation, although for normal people MMA is probably more effective.

In terms of the conditioning of the athletes, then boxers are probably in generally better shape than mixed martial artists. Due to the fact that MMA fighters have to train in so many different aspects of the sport, there is often less time to devote to fitness. That isn't to say that they aren't in good shape, however boxers are generally known to have a lot more stamina. This might be perhaps due to the fact that mixed martial arts is still evolving, as the sport is still very young however.

The fact that boxers often have to fight for 12 rounds is another factor in the fitness needed to compete, as MMA fighters are only required to go for 3 five minute rounds. Perhaps because of this there are still several top MMA fighters who have issues with conditioning, whereas the top boxers are all in peak physical shape. Obviously an MMA fighter has to have more strength in their lower bodies than boxers, who tend to train only for stamina. Mixed martial artists of course need to throw kicks, as well as being able to scramble during take downs and wrestle using their legs as a base.

Mixed martial arts itself evolved fro competitions where experts from one particular style of martial arts would face each other to determine which style worked the best. The early bouts featured purely one dimensional fighters pitted against each other, who would rarely have any other skills apart from those from a single martial art. From these early tournaments, eventually cross training came into popularity, whereby fighters would train in all aspects of fighting in order to have no weaknesses in their abilities.

Boxing on the other hand was originally evolved from bare knuckle fighting, which is still prevalent in some communities today. Making the sport more acceptable and refined to the general public, boxers were later required to wear gloves, and much of the grappling and wrestling from the early days was banned. In this respect then boxing was changed due to public appearances more than what is actually effective as a means of self defense in a real life situation.

Boxers of course are limited in their offensive capabilities in that they can only punch, and aren't allowed to kick or grapple. However this means that in training boxers focus entirely on the technique of throwing different punches, and can generate great power from their punches as a result. Also the stances used in boxing are a lot more focused on being able to punch powerfully and cover up. In MMA by contrast the stances are a lot more concerned with blocking kicks and take downs.

The question as to who would win if a top boxer and mixed martial artist were to fight has been asked many times, although has yet to happen in real life. The fighters who have crossed over either way have tended to be fairly middle card in terms of abilities thus far. Logic would tend to suggest that the fight would depend on whether the boxer could land a knockout punch before being taken to the ground where they could be submitted quickly.