Too late to give MMA a real go?

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Ravo

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I know, I know... Millions of these threads about, but this goes out to anyone who had maybe started out around the same age as me? I'm 19, and really want to start pushing my potential MMA career. I've been doing Muay Thai for around 6 months, a bit of wrestling and No-Gi BJJ here and there. With my work it is difficult to train at one place all the time, because of schedules etc, but have made myself up a training schedule that my current situation would allow me to do, it's between two gyms but I can do it lol.

Monday: Thai Boxing 6:15pm - 7:45
Tuesday: Thai Boxing 6:15pm - 7:30 + Gi BJJ 8:30 - 9:45
Wednesday: Thai Boxing 6:15pm - 7:45
Thursday: Thai Boxing 6:15pm - 7:30 + MMA 8:00 - 9:00
Friday: Thai Boxing: 6:15pm - 7:45
Saturday: Wrestling: 9:00am - 10:00 + MMA 10:00am - 11:30
Sunday: Gi BJJ 12:00pm - 1:15

Following that schedule, plus any extra boxing sessions and 1 to 1's I can fit in for each martial art, do you reckon I'd have much of a chance of being decent at MMA?

For reference the coaches are pretty good for each art. Multiple Muay Thai champions at the gym, BJJ instructor is a long time Black Belt, one wrestling coach is a former British wrestling champion, the other has practiced Greco-Roman for over 20 years. The only thing is there is no solidified MMA coach, usually the Greco-Roman coach will take the MMA class, but his stand-up can seem a bit odd at times. I know the gym is looking for an MMA coach, as it's such a rising sport and such.

I know you're randomers on the internet, but I feel like it may be too late for me and am purely wondering if any of youse had started around my age and have found any success? My Thai boxing game is decent, I feel like my striking is pretty neat and I'm naturally flexible and agile, which suits me well for the Jiu Jitsu.

Cheers fellas! :)
 
Sincerely, I wish you luck and I hope that you become the best athlete that you possibly can.
 
No its absoutley not too late, you are young enough, and if you want it enough then you can do anything. Many successful MMA fighters started later. Good luck and remember if you want it badly then nothing else matters, you will succeed
 
MMA is fighting at the end of the day. If you have the technique it's never too late. Unless you're completely un-atheltic then it's not gonna happen lol.
 
caged_mma said:
Sincerely, I wish you luck and I hope that you become the best athlete that you possibly can.
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HI SCOTT NEWMAN said:
No its absoutley not too late, you are young enough, and if you want it enough then you can do anything. Many successful MMA fighters started later. Good luck and remember if you want it badly then nothing else matters, you will succeed
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Thanks everyone, I was going to stick to the schedule regardless, I'm motivated to do so. But hearing these kind words of encouragement really does give me that extra boost. The internet isn't such a bad place after all, lol
 
19 is mega young, a lot of larger guys who come from athletic backgrounds have started training in their mid 20's, sometimes even late 20's. I know there was a HW boxer who won a commonwealth title and he didn't touch a pad until his early 30's.
 
Never too late homie.
Train hard and go for yours. I'm going to start training this year. I'll train for a few years and see how I feel after. If I'm still good, I'll take a amateur bout.
 
IMO you should add some wrestling to that timetable.... And even more MMA....plus sometimes yoy should try some pure Muay Thai

Good luck with all bro!!!!
 
You are 19....your life is not even starting yet. So many fighters that we recognize as world class athletes started after you (Martinez, Marciano).

Just give'er and see what happens.

Also, sometimes people feel like they are starting late and then feel that they must make up for lost time. That kind of time cannot be banked. Do not over-train. I can not overstate this enough. You are already getting ahead of yourself and you will get an injury, try and push through it then regret it for months or forever (as was my case).

Just do your best and have fun. The real miracles happen when you aren't hyper-focused.
 
fermaPY said:
IMO you should add some wrestling to that timetable.... And even more MMA....plus sometimes yoy should try some pure Muay Thai

Good luck with all bro!!!!
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I wish I could man, down here in South England there is just no real MMA gyms, those the only two days. If I had more time I'd glady take the drive up to London Shootfighters and train MMA specifically everyday, aha. And that's my background bro, I've got a Muay Thai bout at 76KG (No hardcore dieting, thank god) in April!
 
Lay N Pray 101 said:
Never too late homie.
Train hard and go for yours. I'm going to start training this year. I'll train for a few years and see how I feel after. If I'm still good, I'll take a amateur bout.
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Awesome man, let me know how it goes! You're blessed enough to have to some real top MMA camps near you! Wish I had that haha
 
you are so young bro honestly. you can def give it a go!
 
Ravo said:
Awesome man, let me know how it goes! You're blessed enough to have to some real top MMA camps near you! Wish I had that haha
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You just have to bounce around and look for what's best for you. You don't have to go to Jackson's to learn and become a good one. Just be like a sponge and try soak in as much as possible.
 
It is never too late.I know that dos Santos started training at 21 and Forrest Griffin was in his mid 20 when he started so did Rich Franklin and they had great careers.There are a lot of fighters who started later in life and did well some of them even became champions so 19 is not late at all.
Good luck with your mma career hope we'll see you in the UFC some day :)
 
Lay N Pray 101 said:
You just have to bounce around and look for what's best for you. You don't have to go to Jackson's to learn and become a good one. Just be like a sponge and try soak in as much as possible.
Click to expand...

South of England bro, I've looked around, there is no gym solely for MMA unfortunately. We've got Shootfighters and MMA Clinic in London but there classes, plus work, plus me driving there it just wouldn't fit my schedule :(
 
Ravo said:
I know, I know... Millions of these threads about, but this goes out to anyone who had maybe started out around the same age as me? I'm 19, and really want to start pushing my potential MMA career. I've been doing Muay Thai for around 6 months, a bit of wrestling and No-Gi BJJ here and there. With my work it is difficult to train at one place all the time, because of schedules etc, but have made myself up a training schedule that my current situation would allow me to do, it's between two gyms but I can do it lol.

Monday: Thai Boxing 6:15pm - 7:45
Tuesday: Thai Boxing 6:15pm - 7:30 + Gi BJJ 8:30 - 9:45
Wednesday: Thai Boxing 6:15pm - 7:45
Thursday: Thai Boxing 6:15pm - 7:30 + MMA 8:00 - 9:00
Friday: Thai Boxing: 6:15pm - 7:45
Saturday: Wrestling: 9:00am - 10:00 + MMA 10:00am - 11:30
Sunday: Gi BJJ 12:00pm - 1:15

Following that schedule, plus any extra boxing sessions and 1 to 1's I can fit in for each martial art, do you reckon I'd have much of a chance of being decent at MMA?

For reference the coaches are pretty good for each art. Multiple Muay Thai champions at the gym, BJJ instructor is a long time Black Belt, one wrestling coach is a former British wrestling champion, the other has practiced Greco-Roman for over 20 years. The only thing is there is no solidified MMA coach, usually the Greco-Roman coach will take the MMA class, but his stand-up can seem a bit odd at times. I know the gym is looking for an MMA coach, as it's such a rising sport and such.

I know you're randomers on the internet, but I feel like it may be too late for me and am purely wondering if any of youse had started around my age and have found any success? My Thai boxing game is decent, I feel like my striking is pretty neat and I'm naturally flexible and agile, which suits me well for the Jiu Jitsu.

Cheers fellas! :)
Click to expand...


Dude, if you're only 19 that gives you plenty of time to start MMA. If I were you, I'd spend the next few years getting as good as I could, then around 24 I'd be looking for my first fight. I'm sure you don't want to wait that long, but believe me, things will be so much better if you go this route. Plus, in MMA, especially places like UFC, people are usually 25>. It's all about finding your base and getting as good as possible. Do not jump in too soon. Take your time and genuinely get good at everything you're doing. And personally, I wouldn't even consider an MMA fight unless I was at least a purple belt in BJJ. That's one of the strongest bases you can have, and if you get in there with someone who's a wiz on the ground and you're not, you'll get fucked up.

Basically.... just look at CM Punk. He had like 2 years of solid MMA training but wasn't even a blue belt in BJJ, nor was his striking very good, and he got raped. Don't be CM Punk.
 
You're young man, age isn't the limiting factor here.

How much are you training now? Training 7 days a week, sometimes twice a day straight out of the gate sounds like a lot. Slow and steady, but continous, wins the race. Don't overdo it, then quit because of overtraining/burnout, then go back and overdo it and quit again.
 
19 is definitely not too late. It's more about genetics, discipline and effort than age.
 
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