Good cardio vs Explosiveness

[Dublin]

This question has been going since the beginning of the sport, do you think we have an answer? Is there even an answer?

Explosive fighters tend to go for the quick KO but if they aren't able to get that they find themselves exposed to a much fresher fighter in the later rounds. They tend to be the guys who look jacked and a lot of posters here ejaculate themselves over calling them A level athletes

Fighters with good cardio normally come in skinny or skinny fat and can go hard for the entire fight. Usually lack power and speed so are vulnerable to an early KO against a guy much stronger coming at them 100%. A chin is very important if you're going to be this kind of a fighter because you will eat shots in the first round.

What made me think of this was rewatching the Neil Magny Hector Lombard fight from a few months back and Lombard looked like this beast that would snap Magny's twig body in half but Magny survived the first round and ended up winning by TKO against a Lombard with no energy. Another example is obviously Nayt Diaz defeating Conor McGregor after Nayt was absolutely destroyed in the first round but was then able to capitalise on McGregors lack of cardio at that weight class.

So is having good cardio along with a good chin better suited to MMA than explosive fighters that can only last two rounds? Does it depend on the weight class? HW fighters seem to have terrible cardio so maybe explosive fighters can do better in that weight class.

 

[jimmylmao]

Or be both aka prime shogun

 

[chitoortiz]

Cardio and chin all the way

 

[rearnakedchoke]

Gsp was both. And he is the goat.

So answer is both.

 

[Dublin]

Or be both aka prime shogun

It's not possible to be both. You can't go 100% for 3-5 rounds. Even if fighters were juiced it's not possible.

 

[ScarfaceJr]

there's a happy medium

Its called pacing oneself. Be explosive in bursts.

 

[bambammccoy]

Depends on if the early storm can be weathered ala Diaz vs Daley, Conor vs Nate, Gomi vs Nick, Frankie vs Gray.

 

[SirKratos]

Is this even a question? Good cardio

 

[Dublin]

Is this even a question? Good cardio

Good cardio will mean you're relying on your chin though. In the heavier weight classes this is very risky. If you have someone come at you 100% you can go for the counter punch but if that fails you'll probably eat some big shots. Or you could be Cruz but very very few fighters in the UFC have that kind of footwork.

 

[SirKratos]

Good cardio will mean you're relying on your chin though. In the heavier weight classes this is very risky. If you have someone come at you 100% you can go for the counter punch but if that fails you'll probably eat some big shots. Or you could be Cruz but very very few fighters in the UFC have that kind of footwork.

Good cardio only means good cardio, not sure where you are getting all that from

 

[Dream Evil]

It's not possible to be both. You can't go 100% for 3-5 rounds. Even if fighters were juiced it's not possible.

You can be explosive and have good cardio. You just need to train for it.

Besides, no one literally goes 100% in an MMA fight for anything more than a short burst. The trick is to develop the ability to dip into that well several times during a fight.

 

[Dublin]

Good cardio only means good cardio, not sure where you are getting all that from

You can be explosive and have good cardio. You just need to train for it.

Besides, no one literally goes 100% in an MMA fight for anything more than a short burst. The trick is to develop the ability to dip into that well several times during a fight.

Obviously fighters will always have a degree of explosiveness and cardio. But if you have a guy who is naturally an explosive athlete he will most likely develop into a fighter who goes for the quick win because it's likely he will find a lot of success with this strategy. Some people are not gifted with the same amount of fast twitch muscle fibres and will develop into slower and more durable fighters.

If you're going into a fight camp against a guy who clearly will have better cardio than you and it's too late to change your cardio, as all of sherdog keeps reminding me is the case about McGregor, then you will have to go for a win in the first round or two. Because you already know you can't beat him at his own game of grinding you out for a win. So a fighter that is more of an endurance athlete will likely face a blitz in the first round if he is coming against someone clearly inferior in cardio.

 

[londonzizou93]

As a student athlete its good to be good at both rather than being great at one and bad on the other one. For example Nick and Nate Diaz are both top fighters but they cant be the best because of lacking power and speed. Chins will get cracked at some point. Melvin Guillard was a good example of explosive fighter, speed and ko but surely he lacked many other things besides cardio.
So my son the answer is be good at both and it is possible. Actually most of the champions are good at both.

 

[PivotPunch]

It depends and fighting isn't a video game it isn't that simple and it's not black or white.

In terms of what i prefer i prefer to watch explosive fighters and wouldr ather be one myself

 

[adnatal]

It's not possible to be both. You can't go 100% for 3-5 rounds. Even if fighters were juiced it's not possible.

GSP had the most explosive take downs I've ever seen and routinely kept a good pace up to beat guys in 5 round decisions, he's the GOAT.

 

[Ajidar]

LOL, when was this ever a dilemma? In any combat sports fighters train to have both.

 

[dontreallycare]

Nate was bleeding, therefore, he was absolutely destroyed.
Also, Connor was never rocked in that fight. He just gassed out.

 

[SlicerDM]

Put it this way, explosiveness runs dry a lot faster than a full tank of 1.4 cylinder of cardio.

 

[Jitz86]

Edson Barboza sometimes displays both explosiveness and good cardio. The more i see of him the more impressed i have become

 

[Ajidar]

It's not possible to be both. You can't go 100% for 3-5 rounds. Even if fighters were juiced it's not possible.

That's not the same what you stated in the original post. Explosiveness does not mean you go all out (100% as you write) the entire time. It means you pick the moment and then explode with an attack. GSP certainly has both. So does Frankie Edgar, especially when he fought at a higher weight.