MMA v Boxing cardio, what is harder 5 x 5-minute rounds or 12 x 3-minute rounds?

[Zyklon R]

okay, so lets put it this way:
12x3= 26min total work, 11min rest
5x5= 25min total work, 4min rest
By this merit, i think 12x3 is easier since you get nearly 3x more rest.
But at the end of the day your opponent is always trying to outwork you, whatever the time limit or pauses are.
So in that regard it nearly makes no difference what is the exact work to rest ratio, it matters who has the better technique and cardio to outwork you.

12 x 3 rounds is 36min work. 11 more minutes than 5 x 5.

 

[SandisLL]

tell me boxing needs more cardio.

I didn't wrote that boxing needs but boxing training.

 

[Zyklon R]

false. conor with shit cardio went 10 rounds in boxing. literally every mma guy with semi decent gas tank can go 12 rounds boxing. literally 0 boxers can go 5 rounds of a wrestling/grappling heavy fight.
mma fight work time is 25 mins and 4 mins rest like someone pointed + wrestling/grappling.
boxing work time is 26mins and 11 mins rest.
boxing is way easier on cardio.

26min?
I'm having a hard time believing you now.

 

[magicmarker]

false. conor with shit cardio went 10 rounds in boxing. literally every mma guy with semi decent gas tank can go 12 rounds boxing. literally 0 boxers can go 5 rounds of a wrestling/grappling heavy fight.
mma fight work time is 25 mins and 4 mins rest like someone pointed + wrestling/grappling.
boxing work time is 26mins and 11 mins rest.
boxing is way easier on cardio.

Conor is a standup fighter though. I think that makes a difference. It’s not as if boxing is completely out of his element, which would be the case for the boxer in your analogy. It would be different if it was a wrestler/grappler going ten rounds of boxing. Floyd also looked like he could go another 20 rounds...Conor looked like he would enter respiratory and cardiac arrest in another 3..

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

It's not about one being harder, it's about them being different. Like professional cyclists won't win any marathons cause they have been training for a different sport.

 

[SandisLL]

incredibly false. have some one like Khabib/Usman/Askren etc on top of you curshing your lungs with their weight while smashing your face and tell me boxing needs more cardio. LOL when khabib wanna rest he takes a round off and just box. Boxing would never be as taxing as wrestling/grappling. EVER.

I didn't wrote, that MMA requires less cardio and I don't know what Khabib's cardio level is.

_
Lungs work with beauty even if in 1 st round you recieve for example 10 punches on floating ribs, in 12 th round you'll be fresh like in 1 st round because this is just boxing?
Interestingly for comparision to watch, for example bouts with Nigel Benn, LOL.

I wrote that sometimes to do 200 throvs in gym is less demanding than to fight in hands grip with guy for 1 minute and that this might pain even after 3 weeks, sometimes.
But you accuse me with assumption that I wrote that to grapple is easier?

 

[Kuldar]

12 x 3 rounds is 36min work. 11 more minutes than 5 x 5.

Aw $hit. Sorry everybody having a rough workweek so i done lost my marbles on that there math.
Anyway the other part is the same i think. Its simply a war of attrition.
Me personally, just sparring i think i'd rather do 12x3 boxing than 5x5 mma. In an actual fight- honestly i'd for sure skip both if possible. did the full 3x3min in an amateur mma fight once and nearly threw up afterwards.
The sheer amount of time these championship figths take is pretty insane. I mean 25min in a cage with a world class asswhooper is batshit. 36min with a world class boxer is more of the same- batshit.

 

[Fahcough]

All these clowns need to train to impose will as fast as possible and stop training to go the distance. 1st round KOs means fk yo cardio

 

[magicmarker]

It's not about one being harder, it's about them being different. Like professional cyclists won't win any marathons cause they have been training for a different sport.

I agree. I think the question is not who’s cardio is better; but which time frame is more challenging.

imo an mma fighter would look worse fighting twelve 3 minute rounds in the later rounds than a boxer would look boxing five 5 minute rounds in the final rounds. I don’t even think this aspect of the conversation is debatable, so it is becoming more about whether mma is more taxing than boxing. Which as you alluded to, is comparing apples and potatoes..

 

[MadHouse]

hard to compare mainly due to the grappling but a lot of the time these mma guys are just hugging it out or layin n praying which is essentially taking a break , its a lot harder to catch a break in boxing
personally i think mma is more draining but a lot of guys in the UFC has shit cardio compared to boxers

 

[Zyklon R]

hard to compare mainly due to the grappling but a lot of the time these mma guys are just hugging it out or layin n praying which is essentially taking a break , its a lot harder to catch a break in boxing
personally i think mma is more draining but a lot of guys in the UFC has shit cardio compared to boxers

That's a good point. I cant remember how times I've seen fights where both fighters are gassed after a couple rounds in mma where mostly stand up was used.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

I agree. I think the question is not who’s cardio is better; but which time frame is more challenging.

imo an mma fighter would look worse fighting twelve 3 minute rounds in the later rounds than a boxer would look boxing five 5 minute rounds in the final rounds. I don’t even think this aspect of the conversation is debatable, so it is becoming more about whether mma is more taxing than boxing. Which as you alluded to, is comparing apples and potatoes..

I think both would gas out quickly. Boxers don't grapple so they would get exhaused quickly from it and MMA fighters don't throw nearly as many punches so their arms will gas out much quicker.

 

[IGotAHugePeckah]

There's no right answer because it depends on the fight. You could have 5x5 min MMA rounds of guys circling each other. You could have 12x3 minute boxing rounds of two guys averaging 100 punches a round. Or you could have a boxing match where both guys circle each other and throw hardly any punches, and an MMA fight where the guys are engaged in strenuous high paced grappling the entire time.

In this particular case, Conor was never going to have the stamina because Floyd is a grizzled vet who knows how to wear guys out, especially a guy who has never had a pro boxing bout before.

 

[FighterTwister]

MMA v Boxing cardio, what is harder 5 x 5-minute rounds or 12 x 3-minute rounds?

Google different "Energy Systems" that are specifically trained for or developed as a base or fitness level of performance.

I posted about this here - https://forums.sherdog.com/posts/152809755/

 

[MikeMcMann]

Many people mis-understand the term cardio as it pertains to specific sports which would be better identified as endurance.

Cardio in that regard is event specific.

Of course you can have a high level of general cardo. A slow and strong heart rate, etc, but if you simply think you can jump into a specific task or sport and that cardio transfers at the highest levels, you are wrong.

Cardio in that sense involves muscle fatigue and repetition. So because you can run a marathon does not mean you can keep your arms up high and punch effectively for 12 rounds as you have not trained for that repetition. You can take the best trained cyclist or triathlete with the top cardio and they would struggle to push hard and run up flights of stairs, if that is not part of their training.

So if you train MMA you will have good MMA endurance and if you train boxing you will have good boxing endurance but that does not mean you can simply jump from one tot he other and compete at the highest levels unless you play catch up in that specific training area.

 

[FireKidWS]

Boxing is more difficult IF you go hard each round.

But boxers don’t.

“Good cardio” is learning how to do just little enough to keep audience happy but save your energy for later rounds.

It’s why Conor’s cardio “sucks.” He doesn’t throw pitter patter punches like Floyd.

 

[FighterTwister]

Ali one of the best Boxers ever lived with fancy footwork could go 12 even 15 rounds easy with efficient movement using or utilizing less engaged muscle in energy states to benefit from when needed... example to support my opinion....

 

[CPH]

Both equally hard because guess what? MMA fighters and boxers train just as hard.

 

[CPH]

Many people mis-understand the term cardio as it pertains to specific sports which would be better identified as endurance.

Cardio in that regard is event specific.

Of course you can have a high level of general cardo. A slow and strong heart rate, etc, but if you simply think you can jump into a specific task or sport and that cardio transfers at the highest levels, you are wrong.

Cardio in that sense involves muscle fatigue and repetition. So because you can run a marathon does not mean you can keep your arms up high and punch effectively for 12 rounds as you have not trained for that repetition. You can take the best trained cyclist or triathlete with the top cardio and they would struggle to push hard and run up flights of stairs, if that is not part of their training.

So if you train MMA you will have good MMA endurance and if you train boxing you will have good boxing endurance but that does not mean you can simply jump from one tot he other and compete at the highest levels unless you play catch up in that specific training area.

This is the simple truth, but nevertheless, way too complex for your average shertard.

 

[jeremyemilio]

When Conor McGregor was preparing for his bout against Floyd Mayweather, there was a lot of talk about him having to improve his cardio to be able to do 12 rounds.

But is 12 x 3-minute rounds (with a total of 11 minutes rest) really harder than 5 x 5-minute rounds (with 4 minutes rest)?

I know the sports are not the same. You could argue that boxing is more intense because there is no opportunity to rest in the clinch and you could argue that MMA is more intense as it includes grappling. Either way, the exercise form for that most resembles MMA/Boxing is HIIT and I would argue that doing a 5-minute high intensity interval is infinitely harder than a 3-minute

"Cardio" in combat sports isn't about the sport. It is about exactly two things:

1. Which fighter has better cardio.
2. Which fighter is able to control and push the pace.

You can have the second best cardio on the planet, but if you're fighting the guy with the best cardio on the planet, and he has the skill and the will to push the pace on you, then I'm sorry, but you're gonna gas.