Why do punchers dominate in MMA, while kickers never seem to cut it?

RichardN7

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Title says it.
Kickers like Pettis, Stephen Thompson and Barboza never get that fat. Meanwhile, boxers or wrestle-boxers like Dillashaw, Cody Garbrandt, McGregor, Mendes, Woodley, Rumble and Stipe always have an easy time against MT or Karate/TKD guys.
Why is boxing so much more successful and why is kicking so seemingly helpless in MMA...?
 
The threat of a takedown and boxing slipping and head movement more suitable than dutch style shielding with the bigger gloves not as effective with the 4oz gloves
 
theres more than one way to lose in MMA

also lot of those guys you listed also had impressive wins using their kicks

so it's so black and white
 
There are plenty examples of success with kicking in MMA.

Why do you keep making MMA threads in this subforum that are attempts to slight what this subforum is about? Kick rocks ------>
 
kicking in fights is for girls. real men stand and bang with their fists only
 
Kickers like Pettis, Stephen Thompson and Barboza never get that fat.
Also:
Pettis was WEC and UFC LW champ for f*cks sake!
Stephen Thompson is 13-1-1, drew with the champ and may get the belt in March.
Barboza was LW champ in two orgs.

Tell me again how they "never get fat"?
 
There are plenty examples of success with kicking in MMA.

Why do you keep making MMA threads in this subforum that are attempts to slight what this subforum is about? Kick rocks ------>
I'm trying to understand striking, and which styles are most effective in a minimal-rules contest. I'm not spitting on MT or Kickboxing. I'm asking a valid question, and I never get a definitive answer.
Successful kickers were only successful in the early years of MMA. As things are now, they are usually beaten by wrestle-boxers.
I myself am a kickboxer first, and MMA is relatively new to me. I'm trying to understand how I should focus my training, not 'slighting' anything.
 
ok, thats precisely why guys like Anderson Silva sucked, they kicked too much and they were rarely effective...

then he broke his own leg throwing a kick, that has to be absolute evidence that kicking sucks, and should prove all his previous wins that came by way of kicks were just pure luck
 
yair rodriguez just annihilated bj penn......a kicker vs a puncher
 
I'm trying to understand striking, and which styles are most effective in a minimal-rules contest. I'm not spitting on MT or Kickboxing. I'm asking a valid question, and I never get a definitive answer.
Successful kickers were only successful in the early years of MMA. As things are now, they are usually beaten by wrestle-boxers.
I myself am a kickboxer first, and MMA is relatively new to me. I'm trying to understand how I should focus my training, not 'slighting' anything.

yair rodrigues...new rising star, his game is all about kicking
stephen thompson (draw in title fight)
athony pettis (former champ)
jose aldo and edson barboza........leg kicks often gets them the win, one of them is a GOAT contender
vitor belfort.......a puncher who improved his kicks an got two of his best wins by head kick ko (agaist two ufc champs)
jon jones......very weak punches, but dangerous oblique kicks that help him implement his distance game

i can go on, and on and on and on.....it's not about kicks or punches, it's about the fighter and how he implements them. some of the greatest fighters of all time in the ufc relied alot on kicks
 
I'm trying to understand striking, and which styles are most effective in a minimal-rules contest. I'm not spitting on MT or Kickboxing. I'm asking a valid question, and I never get a definitive answer.
Successful kickers were only successful in the early years of MMA. As things are now, they are usually beaten by wrestle-boxers.
I myself am a kickboxer first, and MMA is relatively new to me. I'm trying to understand how I should focus my training, not 'slighting' anything.
If you are looking for no rules, don't look at combat sports or cross compare them, its meaningless; many people don't get the idea that different sport have different ways of striking due to rules. Most forms of kicking today does not address groin shots and have stances that leaves them widely exposed, which is like not able to punch in the face.
 
Title says it.
Kickers like Pettis, Stephen Thompson and Barboza never get that fat. Meanwhile, boxers or wrestle-boxers like Dillashaw, Cody Garbrandt, McGregor, Mendes, Woodley, Rumble and Stipe always have an easy time against MT or Karate/TKD guys.
Why is boxing so much more successful and why is kicking so seemingly helpless in MMA...?

also.....lets not forget.......in the ufc ya cant kick a guy when he puts 1 finger or 1 knee on the ground. that shit is outright ridiculous

a puncher can ALWAYS punch and a kicker can only kick under certain (very limiting) conditions. in pride people got soccer kicked into oblivion.
 
Rumble and Dillashaw are not wrestle boxers.
 
yair rodrigues...new rising star, his game is all about kicking
stephen thompson (draw in title fight)
athony pettis (former champ)
jose aldo and edson barboza........leg kicks often gets them the win, one of them is a GOAT contender
vitor belfort.......a puncher who improved his kicks an got two of his best wins by head kick ko (agaist two ufc champs)
jon jones......very weak punches, but dangerous oblique kicks that help him implement his distance game

i can go on, and on and on and on.....it's not about kicks or punches, it's about the fighter and how he implements them. some of the greatest fighters of all time in the ufc relied alot on kicks
Idk about that.
I think Yair would get demolished by someone like Chad Mendes on the feet. His boxing defense is weak, and if a washed up Penn was able to hit him flush, imagine what a good puncher would do.
Wonderboy got beat up. He got knocked down a bunch of times and concussed by a mid-class wrestler boxer in Woodley... idk how that fight was a draw, look at his face after the fight (even tho I was rooting for Wonderboy, really dig his personality).
Pettis got beat up by a mediocre pressure fighter in RDA and a mediocre puncher in Holloway TKOd him, despite Pettis having the strength and reach advantage.
Jose and Edson are very good strikers ofc, but Jose got KOed by an amateur boxer.

However, I agree that it's down to the fighter to successfully implement his striking style. I just feel punchers have an advantage in MMA.
 
With the wrestling element, high kicks are higher risk, while head shots are the most common for knockouts. So obviously punches produces higher knockouts.
 
Also there is a big difference between fighting in the ring versus in the cage.

If you look at Cro Cop's example, he allways struggled in octagon because there is so much space and the target is constantly moving and circling away so it is much more difficult to find the right angle and timing to hit the moving target. Also there is a problem of range controll, it is difficult to close the distance to opponents in the cage, on the first sign of kick they allways have space to stepp back, or to fight quick in & out style.

He was much more successful in the ring where opponents could not avoid strikes so easy, and where the same movement from kickboxing and boxing and ring cutting is valid and OK.
 
Don't see how Dillashaw is a boxer, he throws a lot of kicks. To be honest most of the guys you mentioned are competent or good kickers. Even in kickboxing there aren't many fighters that are successful without throwing a consistent volume of punches, it's mostly the thai fighters that can pull that off.
 
WB is amazing idk what your talking about he has been hit maybe what with 3 good shots his entire ufc career, even mcgregor gets caught sometimes but to answer your question i think it has something to do with the mma gloves look at overeem he would destroy that boxing style stipe uses in K1 but in mma with the smaller gloves he cant shell up in that turtle the way he does in K1 so countering is a whole different game cuz you can get slept with one shot. Great thread tho im really interested like yourself because i want to know whats the best style to train for mma striking, do i start ducking my head like Cody Garbrandt, do i move in and out like WB, Counter Strike like Mcgregor, or use that high guard muay thai style with the teep kicks and less head movement to avoid kicks and knee its really mind blowing to consider all the variables
 
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