Pro boxers who made successful transition to MMA?

[blaseblase]

Fabio Maldonado had a boxing career, won his first 26 fights. They were all against nobodies though.

 

[blaseblase]

It's the same story in K1 as MMA- washed up boxers that never trained for the sport properly. Botha was never that good and was a bum by the time he fought K1. It doesn't come close to telling the story of what would happen with an elite boxer.

Elite boxers in their prime have no incentive to fight in kickboxing, there's no money in that sport.

 

[Lee_]

Elite boxers in their prime have no incentive to fight in kickboxing, there's no money in that sport.

Obviously. What I was talking about was the inaccuracy in comparing success in MMA for boxers to other MA bases. You can't speculate what base works best when a particular base has never had its elite compete in MMA.

 

[Dogpound2020]

Pro boxers is a pretty vague term - the elite though? Why would any boxer making 5 million a fight try MMA? yea the answer is around 0.

 

[blaseblase]

Obviously. What I was talking about was the inaccuracy in comparing success in MMA for boxers to other MA bases. You can't speculate what base works best when a particular base has never had its elite compete in MMA.

The best base for MMA is MMA.

 

[Lee_]

The best base for MMA is MMA.

Well, if Volk is the top P4P fighter as some say, then you are right.

 

[theincognito]

You say he doesn't count because he was an amateur but Petr Yan is by far the best transition from boxing. He learned everything else while keeping the boxing base as his principle in a similar way that Machida did with karate.

 

[that Indian]

surprised Amanda Serrano has not been mentioned yet ... she gave Katie Taylor all she could handle (thought she won that fight)

 

[Fight Professor]

Ray Mercer KO’d and took down at the same time a dominant former HW UFC champion who was the champ only 2 fights prior. He decided MMA was too easy and never competed in it again.

 

[StewDogg11]

James Toney also had a successful transition to MMA. He didn’t train and had no experience but got a higher base salary than anyone in the UFC at the time. He got 500k against Couture not including bonuses, PPV, or sponsorships.

Yet didn’t see a single penny of it as the IRS garnished it. It saved him from going to prison though.

 

[White lightning 2]

I would have to say Ben Askren. Best boxer around

 

[BarbellzNbacon]

Didn't Poatan box? I could be wrong

 

[StewDogg11]

Chris Lytle had a great boxing record but much like Marcus Davis they were all against cans.

 

[Paolo Delutis]

Jeremy Williams
5x national amateur champion boxer
Had the record for fastest KO in HW division history for a while
Challenged for the WBO belt
Won a title
Had 49 professional boxing bouts 44-5 and over 300 amateur bouts (101 ammy knockouts which is crazy with headgear)

Also was undefeated in MMA at 5-0
Was a state champion in wrestling during HS

He was my coach since 16 years old. I remember him destroying everyone at Legends MMA in Hollywood back in the day. He would beat up on everyone there including Couture and a prime Rampage Jackson. Dana offered him to participate on the original TUF (at LHW) but he turned it down because he felt he could beat the current champ (Chuck Liddel) and thought it was a slight to be offered the chance at a 6 figure contract fighting low tier guys in a reality TV house. Guy was a monster though and would have had a great UFC career at LHW back then.

This could all be very true and you often post cool insider stuff this being another but for some reason i was trying to remember why i knew this name ...

And then i remembered this


Is this the guy your speaking on? This was one of the hardest/scariest KOs i watched in a long time at the time it happened ... Made me always remember to keep my hands up when exiting or pulling back/straight up ...


Samuel Peters was an animal..

 

[RightToBareKnuckles]

I would have to say Ben Askren. Best boxer around

with the benefit of hindsight of course, but I still should've bet my life savings on Jake to beat Ben.

 

[Travis Alexander]

This could all be very true and you often post cool insider stuff this being another but for some reason i was trying to remember why i knew this name ...

And then i remembered this


Is this the guy your speaking on? This was one of the hardest/scariest KOs i watched in a long time at the time it happened ... Made me always remember to keep my hands up when exiting or pulling back/straight up ...


Samuel Peters was an animal..

Yes that is Jeremy. The KO was insanely brutal he had his 2 sons there for that fight and they asked me “if their dad was dead” after the KO and they were in tears. Jeremy was always an undersized HW (even though he had a tremendous amount of success). His MMA fights came after this as well. Fighting at the highest level in HW boxing is as unforgiving as it gets there’s no shame in dying by the sword when it happens these guys are all tremendous monsters in their own right.

Still Jeremy could’ve gone on to be a champion in MMA at LHW imo I’ve seen him in the training room with everyone from Kongo, Couture, Kimbo, Tito, Rampage etc etc and he would maul everybody on the feet… and his wrestling was actually really good and he had serviceable Bjj (blue under Eddie Bravo). Always wanted to see him in the UFC but going from getting 6 and 7 figure fights in boxing to being offered peanuts to fight for the UFC was a joke to him, although I was one of the people pioneering trying to convince him otherwise at the time just to take the opportunity and murk some names.

 

[Paolo Delutis]

Yes that is Jeremy. The KO was insanely brutal he had his 2 sons there for that fight and they asked me “if their dad was dead” after the KO and they were in tears. Jeremy was always an undersized HW (even though he had a tremendous amount of success). His MMA fights came after this as well. Fighting at the highest level in HW boxing is as unforgiving as it gets there’s no shame in dying by the sword when it happens these guys are all tremendous monsters in their own right.

Still Jeremy could’ve gone on to be a champion in MMA at LHW imo I’ve seen him in the training room with everyone from Kongo, Couture, Kimbo, Tito, Rampage etc etc and he would maul everybody on the feet… and his wrestling was actually really good and he had serviceable Bjj (blue under Eddie Bravo). Always wanted to see him in the UFC but going from getting 6 and 7 figure fights in boxing to being offered peanuts to fight for the UFC was a joke to him, although I was one of the people pioneering trying to convince him otherwise at the time just to take the opportunity and murk some names.

Oh man, thats insane ... What a story, i always have mixed thoughts about kids being at fights...as a parent myself to two girls i dunno if them being there or not would affect me in different ways ... Pretty insane for them to witness..i know Alex P kid was there when Izzy ended him too



It definitely would of been interesting who knows how that could of rippled effected the sport... That was a transitional time in MMA and an ex boxing champion coming in and maybe getting a LHW title could of possibly brought more crossovers in the future or maybe bigger pay days today as he would of undoubtedly been paid well ...who knows how one chance can change things in the future...

 

[White lightning 2]

with the benefit of hindsight of course, but I still should've bet my life savings on Jake to beat Ben.

Look at that jab. Perfection

 

[Lee_]

Ray Mercer KO’d and took down at the same time a dominant former HW UFC champion who was the champ only 2 fights prior. He decided MMA was too easy and never competed in it again.

Yes, that narrative actually got pushed on Sherdog for a while at that time. Old fat Timmy will never suffice, he isn't even the best in Powerslap.

 

[Y2Khaos]

Do you have some example of those ? I'm not talking people who had amateur fights like Petr Yan, but ones who had a real pro boxing career of at least 10 fights.

Also not ones who did a one and done like Ray Mercer or made a fool of themselves like James Toney. Or the ones who had only 3/4 MMA fights like Clarissa Shields.

Outside of Holly Holm I don't see anyone who did a successful transition ? Do you sherbros have examples that I might have missed?

I made this thread a while ago. I'm sure there are a few corrections to make by now.
List of Boxers who have fought in MMA and Mixed Martial Artists who have boxed