How athletic are UFC fighters compared to athletes from other sports?

[RafailNadull]

 

[ThePunisher]

To me what answered this question, is look how many former, retired football players were able to come to MMA "to give it a shot." On the other hand, I can't see any retired MMA fighter going to the NFL and having even a modicum of success.

 

[iwhoopedbatman]

Even the 'fat guys' who no one knows about in the NFL are athletes.

 

[RafailNadull]

so where do undersized "athletes" go today?

That sport one of the best martial artists of all time wasn't athletic enough for, soccer.

 

[Swoliosis]

Can any MMA fighter throw a 70 yard pass to a guy running 25 miles an hour while being hounded by another guy running 6 inches from him? I doubt it. Can any MMA fighter stop a 275lb guy running at his QB and prevent that guy from crushing his QB into the dirt? Mitrione and Schaub couldn't, so I doubt any MMA fighter could. Can any MMa fighter jump 4 feet in the air and dunk a basketball? 6'4" Jon Jones couldn't.

heres a LW/WW fighter laying out one of these so called "Elite Athletes"

 

[Deleted member 453401]

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=12052717

 

[Viva]

The UFC wouldn't even know what to do with an A+ level athlete like Gronk

 

[accolyte1022]

I like this one better.

 

[metal]

Watt runs through the heavyweight division

 

[Viva]

heres a LW/WW fighter laying out one of these so called "Elite Athletes"

Wow, no one likes a white knight.

 

[emax]

I think that Anthony Pettis has said that he was in his youth considered not a particularly good athlete because he struggled with sports like football and soccer. And implied that he often got ripped on for being a Latino who couldn't play soccer. I think that interview may be out there, but it showed how someone who does not fit one arbitrary definition of a good athlete can sometimes find other sports where they have Michael Jordan level abilities for success.

And Schaub was sort of a scrub in the NFL but he has still done better in MMA than over half of that org's best players probably would have done if they had tried it.

 

[Bad Romance]

The UFC pays shit compared to the big sports. The endorsements MMA fighters get are shit compared to those athletes in the big sports get. The social status of MMA fighters is shit compared to those of the big sports.

All this means that the best athletes for body sizes that can succeed in the big sports never end up fighters. To get the best athletes, competitive wages are needed, and whilst the UFC could easily pay the fighters much more than they do, to really compete with big sports, MMA itself would need to grow.

Currently, there is precicly one A-level athlete in her athletic prime fighting for the UFC. Ronda Rousey.

Ronda only seems like an A level athlete because wmma talent is so terrible and even then female A level athletes are like the equivalent of male D level.

 

[Viva]

Good to see Stone Cold gracing the list.

 

[themainman]

look it's simple science, just judge the top athletes in their sports

 

[Deleted member 453401]

look it;s simple science, just judge the top athletes in their sports

Does Lebern suffer from chafing of the thighs?

 

[Viva]

I think that Anthony Pettis has said that he was in his youth considered not a particularly good athlete because he struggled with sports like football and soccer. And implied that he often got ripped on for being a Latino who couldn't play soccer. I think that interview may be out there, but it showed how someone who does not fit one arbitrary definition of a good athlete can sometimes find other sports where they have Michael Jordan level abilities for success.

And Schaub was sort of a scrub in the NFL but he has still done better in MMA than over half of that org's best players probably would have done if they had tried it.

That's all you need to know.

If he had a choice he'd obviously choose the NFL, though its clear he's not quite cut out for it.

A-B Level athletes only

(unless they're insanely hard workers)

 

[metal]

heres a LW/WW fighter laying out one of these so called "Elite Athletes"

Your use of the word "elite" is laughable.

 

[kflo]

That sport one of the best martial artists of all time wasn't athletic enough for, soccer.

oh, they'll just pick up soccer and announce themselves pro. got it.

 

[RafailNadull]

Ronda only seems like an A level athlete because wmma talent is so terrible and even then female A level athletes are like the equivalent of male D level.

More like Z-level compared to men. The very best women athletes of all time, like Serena Willams at her peak, get absolutely trashed by nobodies ranked 300 in tennis.

But Ronda is A-level amongst women, unlike her fellow male fighters who are not even close to A-level amongst men

 

[The Karate Man]

Connor McGoat said it best. If he had the choice between 10 rounds of hard sparring and strength and conditioning, he would choose the 10 rounds of sparring any day.