That is what I am saying though. People say that Muay Thai is the best striking art because every one in MMA uses it and MMA has open rules so all martial arts are equal but what people don't realize is that very few guys even in the UFC actually use pure Muay Thai or something that is very similar.
Sanda/Sanshou vs Muay Thai?
- Thread starter Charlitos1988
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That is what I am saying though. People say that Muay Thai is the best striking art because every one in MMA uses it and MMA has open rules so all martial arts are equal but what people don't realize is that very few guys even in the UFC actually use pure Muay Thai or something that is very similar.
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Well, your point was that the thai clinch is useless in MMA, which is kinda ehhhhh..
Maybe I should have been a bit better with my wording, I explained that it wasn't useless but it isn't quite what people make it out to be. I am sure you can list me a lot of situations were it was used and I am sure that there are a lot but I have watched every UFC fight (including prelims) since UFC 128 (and most of the fights before that up to UFC 100) and a lot of Strikeforce/Pride cards and I don't often see the Thai clinch, even from guys that mainly do MT striking.
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So because its not used in the cage, the thai clinch is useless in MMA?
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whoa , take it easy there , you trying to pick another fight again "buffulo mouth" lol
Discipulus
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Western style kickboxing (which is more what the majority of "Muay Thai" strikers in MMA train, rather than actual Muay Thai) just doesn't focus on the clinch. It's the same reason you'll hear competent strikers like Kenny Florian use the phrase "Thai clinch" every time someone grabs a double collar tie, when the real Thai clinch game encompasses so much more than that. I doubt that even Condit and Aldo have very developed clinch games. Nick Denis seems to have a pretty decent understanding of clinching to set up strikes, as does Anderson. And Overeem, of course. But I can't really think of any others that use it well.
What you need to do is stop thinking that both hands on the guys head/neck is a "Thai clinch." That's silly. When you see a guy with double underhooks kneeing his opponent, or trying to set up a trip or knee toss--that's the Thai clinch too. If you watch high-level Muay Thai, you rarely see the double collar tie there either. It's a massively dominant position if you can get it. But it's hard to get, hard to hold on to, and it just doesn't work that well against people who understand how to avoid it. So most of the fighters there will go for some form of arm control with one hand and head control with the other, or controlling both arms a la Jack Dempsey, or over-unders, or a simple bodylock. The Muay Thai clinch game is very much like greco with knees, uppercuts, and elbows.
Ts
Mma is a mix of various styles. Due to the rules you cannot use a pure form of any striking art. So instead think of fighters in terms of their striking base
In terms of striking base more ufc fighters use muay thai than any other striking art. Boxing is likely second
So yes nobody in ufc has pure muay thai. The list of top level fighters that have a muay Thai base is a who's who of good mma strikers.
Mma is a mix of various styles. Due to the rules you cannot use a pure form of any striking art. So instead think of fighters in terms of their striking base
In terms of striking base more ufc fighters use muay thai than any other striking art. Boxing is likely second
So yes nobody in ufc has pure muay thai. The list of top level fighters that have a muay Thai base is a who's who of good mma strikers.
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I would love to see more top level Muay Thai and Sanda fighters in the UFC. We rarely see any of them.
Guys like Buakaw and Liu Hailong never crossed over to MMA.
I guess Shane Del Rosario is the closest to an elite level Muay Thai guy we see in MMA and Wang Guan is probably the best Sanda guy who fights in MMA.
Guys like Buakaw and Liu Hailong never crossed over to MMA.
I guess Shane Del Rosario is the closest to an elite level Muay Thai guy we see in MMA and Wang Guan is probably the best Sanda guy who fights in MMA.
It's amazing how Buakaw changed his style to avoid takedowns. He fought completely different if you take into consideration how he fights under K1 rules. It was rational that he would need to change his style under Sanda rules, but not many fighters are able to do this properly. That is just another evidence of how competent a fighter he is.
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was gonna say Cung Le but then even he doesnt...he did TKD and wrestling and just did well in the sanshou ruleset.
ahhh, shiieeet...Shane del Rosario...Irvine, represent! but no...there have been guys with better MT credentials than him. as successful in MMA? no:
Malaipet the Diamond
Rambaa "M16" Somdat
maybe Buakaw but they just announced that he's going back to MT
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Actually, if you read further then one chapter in his book, he did win a regional tournament with his wrestling and some weird combo of Tae Kwon Do and A Vietnamese flavor of Kung Fu... but then went on to actually train in it (or whatever style that specifically caters to Sanda tournaments).
And probably the best Sanda fighter to ever go into MMA was Bao Li Gao.
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Pat barry was also a pretty decorated san shou fighter. He trained with famed coach shawn lui
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As has been said before, Sanshou/Sanda isn't a "style", but a means of pitting different styles of Kung Fu against each other on a relatively even playing field, although, in the comps i've gone to, it heavliy favours grapplers 
2 or 3 takedowns in a round and you win that round outright, doesn't even continue.
As for the naming of Sanshou as the "lighter" form, i've always heard that Qing Da is the light contact/point fighting form and Sanda is full contact.
And although they aren't MMA, I prefer Liu Hailong and Muslim Salihov to Cung Le anyday.
2 or 3 takedowns in a round and you win that round outright, doesn't even continue.As for the naming of Sanshou as the "lighter" form, i've always heard that Qing Da is the light contact/point fighting form and Sanda is full contact.
And although they aren't MMA, I prefer Liu Hailong and Muslim Salihov to Cung Le anyday.
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Looked him up, wow, dude is legit. I don't get two things tho:
1. He has an official record of 4-0 but supposedly over 50 MMA fights?
2. Why did he quit MMA?
