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

[Viva]

Walker's MMA appearance will be his second. He is 1-0 and credits the training he has done with keeping him in football shape. "I'm a much better-conditioned athlete now than when I was playing football," he said. "I'm 48 and in better shape now than I was when I was in my early 20s, playing football."
http://www.startribune.com/sports/v...QiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUz33Dii_9PmP:Qi_vckD8EQD_1cuU

Can any NFL player come into the UFC and beat Jon Jones I doubt it. Can any NFL player come into the UFC and beat Chris Weidman? I doubt it.

JJ Watt would beat them both to death at the same time.

 

[accolyte1022]

Can any NFL player come into the UFC and beat Jon Jones I doubt it. Can any NFL player come into the UFC and beat Chris Weidman? I doubt it.

How about the other way around?

A rookie makes 420k a year.

 

[SeattleFightFan]

first you have to tell me who's more athletic - the average American Football, Rugby or Aussie Rules player.

support your hypothesis, and counter the obvious counter arguments.

thanks.

 

[emax]

Let's also not forget an increasing number of MMA fighters are coming from NCAA Division 1 Wrestling backgrounds as well. And if there are better athletes in this country than NCAA Div 1 All American or Champion wrestlers, good luck finding them.

 

[Viva]

Derek Carr would stunt on Jon Jones.

And he's a fucking Raider.

 

[jcc3508]

again if you're an elite, top level, second to none athlete there is ZERO sense in going for a sport that pays you 8k/8k to show/win LMAO thats poverty line income right there.

 

[method115]

How about the other way around?

A rookie makes 420k a year.

No of course not my whole point was it's silly to think that just because someone is athletic that they'll automatically be able to do what anyone in the NFL/NBA can.

 

[Viva]

Pretty sure NFL cameramen make more.

 

[themainman]

LeGarrette Blount perfected the superman punch in college, that took gsp many years just to be adequate at

 

[Sp@cePeanut]

Athletic enough to beat the snot out of everyone of all the other sports....

 

[theheater]

again, it's a silly debate. roy jones did not stand out as an athlete on a development league basketball team. he was arguably the best athlete boxing has ever seen, and would out "athlete" any nba athlete in a ring.

tyson too sucked at basketball.

charlie ward was an average athlete in both basketball and football, but combined he's a freak.

yeah couch potatoes and internet nerds have next to no understanding of "athletics"

theres fighting in hockey. the best players suck at fighting. they p4p arent better at fighting than other hockey players either. the guys who can skate the fastest, shoot the hardest, shoot the most accurately, and are the most agile, get beat up by guys their own size in fights more often than not

its not about being "athletically superior" its about specialization. the best athlete in your highschool gym class dominates everything. when you get to the top levels of pro sports everyone is a specialist. lebron james couldnt make the NHL if he played hockey his whole life. he wouldnt have a snowballs chance in hell at soccer or baseball either. how many 6'8 batters are there in the MLB? everyones a specialist at that level. how many mlb pitchers are muscle bound?

same with track and field. usain bolt is the fastest man on the planet. he murders everyone in the 100m and 200m races. at 400m i dont think hes even top 50 in the world. think about this, the fastest man in the world is murdering everyone at the 200m distance. by 400m, wich is a 40 second race, guys who are not even top 50 at 200m and way behind bolt blow him away in the second half of the race and the final 20 seconds. bolt is barely better than the womens 400m world record time

its about specialization. the only thing the NFL players really produce is HW potential. the athleticism required for mma is just totally different. the ability to run full tilt for 3-6 seconds and either make or break tackles is completely different than having stamina or coordination

 

[metal]

Can any NFL player come into the UFC and beat Jon Jones I doubt it. Can any NFL player come into the UFC and beat Chris Weidman? I doubt it.

This man says otherwise.

 

[jcc3508]

Let's also not forget an increasing number of MMA fighters are coming from NCAA Division 1 Wrestling backgrounds as well. And if there are better athletes in this country than NCAA Div 1 All American or Champion wrestlers, good luck finding them.

Wrestling is dead. Is not even an olympic sport and has no pull, no money no attraction to it. Those days are gone brother. I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[GTS]

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.

Sumo wrestlers could, so I guess that makes them more athletic.

Your comparisons are shit, as is your leading the idea that NFL players are on average highly athletic. Most of their advantage is size, and size is NOT athleticism, neither is height. As far as your "throw a pass" scenario, You may doubt it, but that doesn't make it untrue. Of course a QB is going to be better at something that they practice over and over for years, It's still throwing a ball to someone trying to catch it.

Funny how when Athleticism comes up and someone always brings up NFL, the sport where they stand around catching their breath over half the time.

 

[Viva]

Difference is Blount can actually KO people with his superman punch.

Take notes Georges.

 

[eiyuu]

lol @ you buying into a publicity stunt.

I added other articles backing up the first one I linked.

I guess they're all in on the "publicity stunt"

 

[SingerAuto]

Can any NFL player come into the UFC and beat Jon Jones I doubt it. Can any NFL player come into the UFC and beat Chris Weidman? I doubt it.

Can Jon Jones go in and play OLB in the NFL?

Can Chris Weidman go in and start for the Golden State Warriors?

Thats the stupidest post I have ever seen in my life.


If you give some NFL guys, monsters like Kam Chancellor, the amount of time training in combat sports that guys like Weidman or Jones have, he could be a champion.

People would take you more seriously if you didnt make retarded posts.

And being in better shape =/= being a better athlete. Walker was an elite athlete, MMA just helped him stay in great shape. It did NOT make him a better athlete.

And BTW, the guy quoting Carlon Colker? Dude sells dietary supplements, he has no credibility in this discussion. He is big in the body building community, I would love to see the direct quote you posted. I can find nothing supporting what you said. The dude also said Ephedra was not harmful LOL

 

[kflo]

He's so old he's senile, and he's still winning in MMA.

Embarrassing imo.

he faced amateurs as old as he is

 

[Viva]

LOL @ you since this goes against your argument and you have no real comeback to it so you make something up with no corroboration.

By the way, I added other articles backing up the first one I linked.

I guess they're all in on the "publicity stunt"

There's nothing else to do in the offseason, why not workout with a bunch of D-level athletes for a nice confidence boost.

Psychology 101 son.

 

[GTS]

This man says otherwise.

And he would be wrong...