New to MMA..wrestling all my life

[TSBB]

Im 18 years old and have been wrestling since I was 5. Through high school I have finished top 8th in the state and am lookin to get top 3 this being my senior year. I feel that my wrestling skills are excellent and want to def continue my fighting in MMA and not wrestle in college. Can any one give me advice on what to do first. Iv heard getting into BJJ or muy thai is best but iv also heard kick boxing is the way to start. Any tips on how to start this journey would be great. Thanks


-Tim

 

[tequilaman]

Get comfortable fighting off your back! That is the hardest thing for a wrestler to get used to.

BJJ is usually the next step, but maybe skip to Striking arts first since you have so much experience grappling and that you are so young still.

 

[Foolkiller]

If your schedule permits try start off with 3 BJJ classes a week and 2 boxing or MT classes a week. I'm assuming as a wrestler you're in good shape so you should be able to adapt to the regime easily. As time goes by you might want to shift to three boxing/MT classes and two BJJ classes once you get used the guard position in BJJ.

 

[rerard]

Id say BJJ is a little more important because its gonna be a lot easier for you to fight a stand up guy and just take him down and GNP than it is to fight a good sub artist and avoid being subbed. Especially in the beginning because you will have some bad habits from wrestling although once you break those your ground game should improve pretty rapidly since you already have the takedowns and ability to use your weight and control. I think the hardest thing for wrestlers when they start BJJ is just keeping an open mind and letting go of old habits.

 

[TSBB]

thanks allot guys for your help

 

[bammann45]

I am jealous. I got interested in bjj etc as an old guy. I envy the years of training you can put in while you are young. good luck.

 

[FStep]

i would say concentrate on bjj if you have that much wrestling experience you'll be able to take most people down no problem but you need to get rid of some bad habbits you get from wrestling and learn how to defend subs as thats gonna be the only danger for you at least in lower levels of mma ... you should pick up some striking as well just to help you set up your takedowns, etc but if you are gonna be a grappler concentrate on what you are already good at

 

[triggertap79]

I say do bjj and boxing to start off with. If you're shooting for mma try to find a no gi or submission wrestling school. After you get comfortable boxing then add in some muay thai. Or if you are lucky enough to have a good mma school near you, you could just go there.

 

[Matt Thornton]

13 years of wrestling? You're gonna be sick at MMA.

 

[satchmo]

13 years of wrestling? You're gonna be sick at MMA.

Not to knock the TS, but years of wrestliing doesn't necessarily correlate to MMA sucess. I started my freshman year but claimed freestyle and greco state champiomships. It more depends on how dedicated you are and how quickly you pick up on defensive
sets.

 

[satchmo]

13 years of wrestling? You're gonna be sick at MMA.

Not to knock the TS, but years of wrestliing doesn't necessarily correlate to MMA sucess. I started my freshman year but claimed freestyle and greco state champiomships. It more depends on how dedicated you are and how quickly you pick up on strategic plans.

 

[colinm]

it all depends on the style of fighter you want to be, i suppose. you could use your wrestling to keep it standing and strike or use your wrestling to take it down to the ground and gnp. im sure you can see the value in knowing all three - wrestling, bjj, and mt/boxing - you can take down and submit a better striker or sprawl and brawl with a better grappler.

just start training BOTH bjj and muay thai, keep an open mind, and im sure things will fall into place.

 

[Cameron]

well your doing the right thing getting in to bjj, keep training sub defence like mad. anthoer thing is you want to also get some stand up training, you already have take down and every thing that comes with wrestling all it is now is getting your game well rounded and to the next level. be a sponge and learn every thing you can and train.

 

[Gaylon Cooper]

IF you have no other grappling exprience than just wrestling I would say go into something like muay thai, it will teach you a new level of balance. Then go in to some BJJ.

Like super beast said. 3 nights of MT and 2 nights ot BJJ would be a good stack.

 

[Zankou]

Boxing and bjj are your best bet. You can add MT later, but with your background I think boxing is better to start out with -- quicker to learn and more vital.

 

[John O'Brien]

there is no money in MMA, go to college and get yourself an education.

 

[colinm]

there is no money in MMA, go to college and get yourself an education.

lol, but a great point. if you're good enough to get a wrestling scholarship, keep wrestling and save yourself up to 100k in student loans.

 

[SwiftMcvay]

If i was you, i'd wrestle in college and take BJJ, and muay thai or boxing on the weekends. The reason i suggest this is because since you already have a strong point, you should build up on it and just focus on other arts to supplement it. You will slowly learn the other ways of fighting, but you will also gain an extremely dominant style in wrestling, and your takedowns/takedown defense will probably be better than anybody you'd ever fight. You could be like a Randy Couture or Dan Henderson type. Decent at striking and submission/submission defense, but great at wrestling. I guess it all depends on what kind of fighter you want to be though. And you would get an education, which is valuable since MMA doesn't pay very well right now.

But if you are deadset on not wrestling in college, just find an MMA school and take BJJ and a striking art, preferably muay thai, boxing, or kickboxing.

 

[TSBB]

Thanks allot guys on your comments you have really helped me in my main question and given me some other to think about... thanks again guys later

- TiM

 

[GuardGame]

Ok, I know I already PM'ed you about this, but im going to put it out in the open..
Listen to what the people on this thread are saying, wrestle in college and if by the time you graduate from college and dont want to do MMA, you have a degree to fall back on...

This is the MMA aspect: If you wrestle in college, by the time you graduate college, you'll have had 17 YEARS of wrestling experience, and once you start MMA, not a lot of people are going to be able to stop your takedowns, and takedown defense..look at Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Genki Sudo, Matt Lindland, and Matt Hughes who all wrestled in college and look at where they are at now..they are incredible, you can be too if you wrestle in college!

Start training submission grappling/BJJ and boxing, and look for an MMA school if there is one in your general area. If you start training these now, and all throughout college, you will be a MONSTER by the time you graduate from college, believe.....If you do this, I can see you being very competitive in your weight class at MMA, how much do you weigh by the way?