Why hasn't Europe or Asia had more success in UFC/MMA?

[LargeMammal]

The obvious answer is Vale Tudo has a long history in Brazil (and that it's generally super violent). Wrestling is one of the top sports in US high schools, in U.K. and as far as I know europe, it's unheard of. Wrestling has proven to be an excellent base for MMA in a way that boxing, which is popular in the UK, hasn't.

Agreed Brazilians seem to be naturally good fighters I think mainly due to cultural tradition.

And yes you're right re wrestling... collegiate style wrestling of the style found in MMA is totally absent from physical education curriculum in the UK. However, full-contact rugby is much more widely practised (from the age of about 13 up) and actually does offer an option for aggressive physical training which translates quite well into MMA. But no one will deny that generally the quality of wrestling pedigree in the US far out weighs any of its European counterparts which gives a clear advantage in any grappling scenario - and history has proven that European fighters are generally much more striking-orientated than grappling.

 

[LargeMammal]

It's raggedy up in the north. Our first mma "gym" was putting together mats, bags and gloves all fit into a corner of a fitness gym, and this was about 8 years ago. Meanwhile there are strong wrestling roots with several decade old nationwide clubs with funding. Boxing's more urban and lacks funding, but still has a known, longtime presence. Takes time, the popular sports are practiced in schools and thus the transition to join a club is more seamless.

It's not much more sophisticated down south my friend. You're right that amongst urban youth boxing is still the far more popular option, but even boxing clubs are merging with MMA gyms now and people are becoming much more interested in MMA as a result. But yeah overall in the UK, boxing is still head & shoulders above MMA in terms of popularity as a combat sport - I guess it's a cultural thing. I know many pretty skilled amateur boxers who literally don't have the first clue about MMA.

 

[ultrasonic]

UK and Russia dominate boxing. But it hasn't translated to MMA. What is it, the camps, lack of training facilities, lack of wrestling, what? US and Brazil are still running everything.

Your premise itself make no sense. How are UK and Russia dominating boxing when countries like the US and Mexico have produced exponentially more champions? Forget pro boxing, even in the amateurs Cuba/US have been top dogs since forever.

 

[MCS]

It's not much more sophisticated down south my friend. You're right that amongst urban youth boxing is still the far more popular option, but even boxing clubs are merging with MMA gyms now and people are becoming much more interested in MMA as a result. But yeah overall in the UK, boxing is still head & shoulders above MMA in terms of popularity as a combat sport - I guess it's a cultural thing. I know many pretty skilled amateur boxers who literally don't have the first clue about MMA.

Just from listening to US fighters though it sounds like there's some form of mma training within reachable distance, often options to choose from, so like you said it's based on if there's a mindset of openness for change within a culture, or if anything new compromises old views. It's also easier to open shop in big cities, while smaller places rely on city funding, or it turns into doing it for free for those who want to.

 

[Kleinschuster]

UK and Russia dominate boxing. But it hasn't translated to MMA. What is it, the camps, lack of training facilities, lack of wrestling, what? US and Brazil are still running everything.

3 out of 11 champs are European...

And to answer your question: The same reason why we are not good at NFL and Basketball - there's no interest and therefore no money for it. The same for the US/Canada with football - you guys just suck at it.

 

[xxax]

Because it hasn't really kicked off in Europe training wise. There aren't many gyms here that have the best striking coaches, best wrestling coaches and BJJ coaches under one roof. In Eastern Europe a lot of the older styles like boxing, kickboxing, Mauy Thai, Judo etc. still look down on MMA a bit, not to mention there are way less promotions to get noticed and the pay is really bad. Remember that Judo/Wrestling is a Olympic sport so at least the athletes get paid something to compete (in poorer countries). Fighting for 500 euros per match.... well i understand why not a lot of people do it.

3 out of 11 champs are European...

And to answer your question: The same reason why we are not good at NFL and Basketball - there's no interest and therefore no money for it. The same for the US/Canada with football - you guys just suck at it.

Excuse me, we don't suck in basketball, you had Serbia and Spain winning World Cups and an European team is almost always second. Basically in basketball you have the US and then maybe Argentina, then its all Europe. Given the fact that the US has around 350 mil people and Serbia has 7, its not hard to see which one has a massive talent pool available, not to mention the insane amounts of money they pour in.

That's just the thing, Europe isn't one country, if you had an all European team i'm quite confident they would be a much bigger challenge to the US team, but here you have many nations all with their own agendas. UFC is an american company, so of course its most popular in the US, where even a small population doing it is huge, while in Europe you have a small population in much smaller countries. Brazil has 200 mil people for christ sake.

The 3rd and 5th most populated countries in the world are good at a sport.... no shit! The talent pool is fucking huge. Brazil almost has the same population as Germany, France and UK (the three most populated countries in Europe).

 

[mon]

They're practically all former Soviet satellite nations, so I loosely include them under the broader "Russia" umbrella.

Turkey?

 

[Noble Six]

Yes, out of 8 weight classes, 2 champions in divisions filled with Brazilians and Americans. Look at the top ten in Conor's division. Conor's the only Englishman, then one Russian. That's it. Look at Bisping's division, top 10. All US and Brazil. One Australian. I'm making a point about having a structure. UK and Russia don't have. I at least assumed Russia would have one by now. I think they're getting better. Not UK though.

Conor is Irish.

 

[whougonnacall]

Maybe as the ufc largely recruits american ?