The concept of A,B,C - level fighters.

[Alphaboy]

You guys sound silly.

So the general belief of this topic seems to be that UFC fighters are a class below other professional sports in terms of athleticism, the logic being, if they were more athletic, they would play pro football or basketball. So where a professional running back would be a top-tier athlete, a decent UFC fighter would be second tier or worse.

This is silly because UFC fighters are still among the top athletes in the world. They need just as much endurance, strength, and cardio as any other sport. Does this belief implies that some football player can take a break from the NFL and dominate the MMA arena??

Different people have a passion for different sports. One person has a desire to fight, one person has a desire to play ball. The most athletic people will succeed in their respective sports.

Saying crap like: "If an MMA fighter was more athletically gifted they'd be in the NFL so that they'd make more money" is as illogical as saying "If a teacher was smarter they'd be a doctor so that they'd make more money" no, some teachers just rather be teachers even though they'd excel in Med school, and some Doctors would make terrible teachers because they don't have talent in that area.

 

[Wicked_1]

The comparison of different sports is irrelevant. Who knows id x person could have been the best x sport guy ever. Sometines it has more to do with upbringing and whereabouts as to what sport someone joins.it doesnt make someone a better athelete to be in any sport. If theres no hockey in mississippi, u probably wont get a great hockey player from there. There are a_ b_ c level athletes in every sport. U dont see guys from iceland kicking ass at football, but they may have the most athletically gifted guy in the world. The best fighter in the world may never even fight.

 

[beastman]

The biggest point I think is missed by most is that not everyone can throw a punch, take a punch and grapple. Plenty of the best of the best athletes just can't do it.

The thing that's really needed for MMA is the ability to learn a technique, repeat it, tailor it to yourself then throw it at the right time. A guy like Jon Jones learns a technique and replicates it immediately, puts his own spin on it, then destroys you with it.

 

[DLX]

C-Level Cain is for real

 

[Wizzlebiz]

Are you disputing there are levels to this shit???

 

[beastman]

Are you disputing there are levels to this shit???

That'd be impossible. Look at any fighters record and usually you've got A, B, C, D, E level guys on it. Not all wins are created equal.

 

[20falarVerdades]

Proof: Top 10 UFC fighter and A-level athlete Bethe Correa

 

[Someoneelse]

Athletic skill doesn't always translate to martial skill.

 

[Wizzlebiz]

That'd be impossible. Look at any fighters record and usually you've got A, B, C, D, E level guys on it. Not all wins are created equal.

While that is true. The elite are the elite for a reason. They win more and more convincingly due to better talents. This is the reason there is a regional circuit for mma. Not all athletes are capeable of being elite fighters.

 

[Alphaboy]

Proof: Top 10 UFC fighter and A-level athlete Bethe Correa

I thought it went without say that WMMA doesn't count.

Actually... Women's sports are completely irrelevant to this discussion after an ice skater (Tonya Harding) joined professional boxing and actually started killing female fighters' asses. They have no levels.

 

[yaco787]

I don't think you are giving enough credit to evolution of athletes. Most competitive human beings compete or atleast have partaken in sports thru-out their lifetimes (Highschool, Pop warner, etc..) Some of those were good enough to start on a HS team, and some go-on to college and then some to the pros. That trend follows and the pool gets smaller and smaller where the cream always rises to the top with regard to athleticism. MMA has not been around long enough and is not as accessible as other sports in the public domain. In many ways, MMA is still a "white collar" sport where one needs money to even join a gym in the same way one needs money to ski; lots of money is involved with practice. The pool for MMA is much smaller in the talent level or athleticism because of this fact. Because other sports have a much larger pool of amazing athletes, this will always mean that those sports will have a much higher quality talent pool; both in skill and genetics. Let's not kid ourselves. Not everyone can play football, basketball, soccer, etc.. But anyone, at the very least is able to fight. Doesn't mean they have to be great at it but fighting is a natural instinct. Throw rules into it and that changes things a bit, but not enough to compensate for the years of evolution of genes and skill that accompany many of the other sports. I grew up in an area known as "the Pipeline to the NFL". Many of my friends went on to play at D1 and later NFL. Many of these ppl were dual sport athletes and had insane physical ability. I've seen football players who were able to dunk from the free throw line with no problem. I've seen others with amazing skill on the basketball court not end up doing anything because of drugs or violence and they end up in prison. One of the most amazing athletes i have ever seen was a name troy davis, He was a running back and made other players look like they were children. This guy didn't even make it big in the NFL but was still able to make other future NFL players look like tools on the field because of his talent alone. he wasn't even that big and powerful, he was just talented and it showed on the field in what was 6A. He was the runner up in heisman voting one year from a small school compared to others. That kind of talent is easily trained and he would have been amazing at any sport he chose, even MMA. The talent pool to choose from in athleticism from the main stream sports is much better than in MMA, it's just a matter of availability and cost. There is noway MMA can compete for talent against those other sports since it is just not as readily available. Another example is Jose aldo. It is said that he could have been a club player for a brazilian team. He may have been good, but he more than likely not good enough to be on the club's higher roster. He was also said to be brazil's top prospect at the time for BJJ but he went to mma because that is where the money was at.