Anyone who talks about "A Level Athletes" should be killed. They should have their lower lip stapled to their forehead and then have a sneeze induced.
Being a great ahtlete doesnt mean you are,or will be, a great fighter. A great athlete may go to sleep as soon as he gets touched with the jab. Gutting it out in a basketball game is not the same as gutting it out when your on your back and someone is bashing you to hell. It takes something else then. Some people are born fighters and more often than not they will have the advantage over the gifted athlete. Of course there are exceptions,but that is what they are,exceptions.
I am not disagreeing with you entirely, and of course there will be top level athletes that do not react well to being hit, and not succeed in MMA. It is ludicrous (IMO) that it is the rule that they cannot.
This is the entire reason to "wonder". Again I stress it is ONLY the HW and possibly LHW male weight classes we are talking about here.
I think (PED case aside) we have seen a high level athlete in the HW division that has the single worst reaction to being hit in the face that I have ever seen. He wound up winning the UFC HW championship with virtually ZERO MMA experience 100% on sheer athleticism.
Even if only 5% of the LARGE mainstream sport athletes can and 95% can't in the NFL alone (1,500 players) that would leave 75 players to add depth to the HW division in MMA. IMO, it is highly likely that one or more of these 75 WOULD win the UFC HW belt!
What I don't get is how people talk about athletes from the NFL and NBA being able to be top MMA with minimal training but Boxers can't become top MMA fighters with years of training. Don't get the logic with some posters here. None of these A-level athletes have tried to make it in Boxing despite the potential for big paydays so that says something.
golfers make alot of money. they are a-level!
it's dumb. mma "fans" are the only ones who care. and assume a "real" athlete just picks whatever sport they want and dominates.
I am not disagreeing with you entirely, and of course there will be top level athletes that do not react well to being hit, and not succeed in MMA. It is ludicrous (IMO) that it is the rule that they cannot.
This is the entire reason to "wonder". Again I stress it is ONLY the HW and possibly LHW male weight classes we are talking about here.
I think (PED case aside) we have seen a high level athlete in the HW division that has the single worst reaction to being hit in the face that I have ever seen. He wound up winning the UFC HW championship with virtually ZERO MMA experience 100% on sheer athleticism.
Even if only 5% of the LARGE mainstream sport athletes can and 95% can't in the NFL alone (1,500 players) that would leave 75 players to add depth to the HW division in MMA. IMO, it is highly likely that one or more of these 75 WOULD win the UFC HW belt!
My pit bull loves to chase balls.Wow, getting a ball from two feet into a net, very impressive.
I think most of it are applying it to barrier to entry which is still pretty laughable when it comes to MMA. It's incredibly more difficult to become a pro golfer on the PGA tour than it is to become a fighter in the UFC. It comes up often in the MMA pay discussion when comparing to other sports.