tips on adapting my striking for mixed martial arts

[RJ Powell**]

Cammy was hawt stuff.

 

[ssullivan80]

Enjoyment? I much rather enjoy being the BJ Penn to someone's Sherk.

Agreed. However, it is kinda like playing black jack and hitting a soft 15, you know it's not going to work out in your favor very often and you cringe at the mere thought of doing it...... but when it does work in your favor, it is so rewarding! Like you got away with something! (if you don't play Black Jack this will make absolutely no sense!).

 

[Strykerx]

There is a lot of excellent advice already poster, let me give you another view on it.
This is some advice you may not want to hear but its a good suggestion none the less. In order to be good at MMA you want to know about grappling as much as your striking knowledge. You must be thinking to yourself I already know I need to learn grappling its nothing new for MMA.

What I'm saying is you are learning grappling for MMA the wrong way. You want to know what goes on in the ground fighter minds besides the takedown he may pull guard, sweep you, throw you all kinds of stuff you don't have down to muscle memory. In order to do this I purpose you do what Bas did and stop working on your striking for awhile if not at least train it once or twice at most a week. You are already good at striking indulge yourself in the grappling world.

There is only one way you can get good fast at grappling is by training it more than you do striking, I would go would as far as to say every other week just train grappling no striking at all. After a few months of doing this then you can go back to more striking training eventually after sometime it will begin to flow and you will be able to recognize some things you could not see if you had just train the ground on the side. Everything else you can learn to adjust while just sparring mma.

Footwork, timing, and technique should always be review. Everything that I have mention is what I did/and am still doing to evolve from just a striker to a MMA fighter. Good luck with your ventures.

 

[devante]

There is a lot of excellent advice already poster, let me give you another view on it.
This is some advice you may not want to hear but its a good suggestion none the less. In order to be good at MMA you want to know about grappling as much as your striking knowledge. You must be thinking to yourself I already know I need to learn grappling its nothing new for MMA.

What I'm saying is you are learning grappling for MMA the wrong way. You want to know what goes on in the ground fighter minds besides the takedown he may pull guard, sweep you, throw you all kinds of stuff you don't have down to muscle memory. In order to do this I purpose you do what Bas did and stop working on your striking for awhile if not at least train it once or twice at most a week. You are already good at striking indulge yourself in the grappling world.

There is only one way you can get good fast at grappling is by training it more than you do striking, I would go would as far as to say every other week just train grappling no striking at all. After a few months of doing this then you can go back to more striking training eventually after sometime it will begin to flow and you will be able to recognize some things you could not see if you had just train the ground on the side. Everything else you can learn to adjust while just sparring mma.

Footwork, timing, and technique should always be review. Everything that I have mention is what I did/and am still doing to evolve from just a striker to a MMA fighter. Good luck with your ventures.

good point marcus davis, cro cop, machida, carano edwards noons rutten stout; anyone who has that high level striking background/exp, to become well rounded fighters they have to immerse themselves in the area they are weakest.

Will it make u a master grappler, no but it will get you familar w/the feel conditioning timing angles positioning off and def that comes w/it; as stated b4 just knowing the takedown isn't good enough, its like knowing how to JUST slip the jab or block the leg kick. That is well and good; but happens when theyfollow it w/the right hand or get u w/a check hook, or use a lead right or leap in w/a hook or double up on leg kicks, or go to the body or go to the leg then the body. You get dropped cus u have only prepared for one element of striking, an not all the other a)elements or b)setups or follow throughs. So just being able to def a single leg isn't good enough, what if they pick the ankle, what if they tie you up and throw you, what if they shoot then pull guard, what if they clinch and body lock u or leg trip u. An that isn't even going into what happens when u hit the ground and he begins pounding, switching positions, attempts submissions; can u get back up, can u reverse position, if you do can u do so w/out being tapped.

look at the opposite side of it sherk/penn, penn "WORKS" on his boxing; but can't deal w/a basic jab or right hand, his offense and his footwork was not developed enough... Mark coleman who "developed" some striking; but was never able to assert himself on any level against even competent strikers. Whereas a guy like randy immerses himself in it and while not a virtuoso, has dev a jab/right hand, good footwork, headmovement, blocking/upper body movement, uppercuts, hooks, etc

stryker makes a good point, example horodecki great takedown def very good striking all round standup, handspeed, diversity, power, chin, durability, etc; but has been exposed a bit when faced w/guys w/better wrestling and has shown HUGE holes in his game when put down and kept down..lacking the def/positioning/off abilities to do anything but survive.

u don't want to be that guy, that being said ur question was tech specific/strategy specific to striking so when i commented i did so thinking of the tech/strategies from a striking perspective that would benefit u the most and earliest

 

[blanko]

How do you become a good mma striker? Learn how to grapple and defend the takedown. The thing that allows you to commit to your strikes is the confidence that you have in your takedown defence/groundwork. IMHO it's one of the reasons why anderson striking seems even more dangerous now. he is really commiting to his strikes cus he is confident that he won't get subbed or controlled on the ground.

 

[ssullivan80]

How do you become a good mma striker? Learn how to grapple and defend the takedown. The thing that allows you to commit to your strikes is the confidence that you have in your takedown defence/groundwork. IMHO it's one of the reasons why anderson striking seems even more dangerous now. he is really commiting to his strikes cus he is confident that he won't get subbed or controlled on the ground.

That thought never occured to me! Great advice, thanks! makes perfect sense!

 

[MonstrositY]

Been training textbook Muay Thai and Boxing (seperately) for years now, had a number of amateur bouts in boxing, and a few MT smokers.

I don't think either sports will get me paid much if i went pro. The talent pool in boxing is so deep, and kickboxing never took off to begin with here in the U.S. So that leaves me with MMA.

I joined a grappling and wrestling class. I just need some advice about changing my striking style to fit the rules of MMA. Like i said, i'm training both arts in their purest forms (Muay thai to a lesser extent, because of U.S. regulations), so base your advice off of that .

I'm just looking for stuff like:

How my stance should be

Maybe some techniques that might not work in MMA

Some techniques that might work better in MMA.

How the "baby gloves" would affect my defense and offense in terms of MMA.

etc. and if any of you guys have transitioned from a pure striking art to MMA, please tell me about all your experiences. I would love to hear them.

K thanks.

want an honest opinion? ok, no more defense. you're not going to block anything anymore. mma striking is totally dif to kickboxing striking and TOTALLY dif to boxing. the aim is not to get hit anymore.

sure there are a few guys that block - eg tito, but look what happened when he tried covering up against chuck... eg rampage but look what happened when he covered up against chute box fighters.

anyways, i did muay thia for a while, and my trainer wanted me to get hit then hit back, it felt awkward. def don't do that shit in mma. you don't need to be in range to get hit to hit someone, look at CC, look at machida, look at fedor.

my two cents.

 

[blanko]

That thought never occured to me! Great advice, thanks! makes perfect sense!

sometimes the simplest answer is the best answer. Alot of sherdoggers live in the "theory" part of MMA and martial arts. I have helped teamates train for mma and have various branches of my school that have mma fighters and train mma fighters from other gyms. "theory" is one thing, "Practice" is a whole different story.

 

[ssullivan80]

sometimes the simplest answer is the best answer. Alot of sherdoggers live in the "theory" part of MMA and martial arts. I have helped teamates train for mma and have various branches of my school that have mma fighters and train mma fighters from other gyms. "theory" is one thing, "Practice" is a whole different story.

You're right! I have found my mma striking has improved drastically since I began training more BJJ. Even though I am focusing much less on my striking, i am also much less hesitant to be aggressive with it knowing I have a feel for the ground game and can reasonably defend myself. I am still a far cry from considering myself even a novice on the ground, but none the less, I know a little more about what to expect.

As you said "Practice" can't be replaced with "theory", but when stuck in my office it is the only option! Just like a brilliant professor has all the answers but is not nearly as successful as his student who applies that knowledge with practical application (monetarily speaking).

 

[blanko]

I am not saying that i am an mma coach, i am however around mma fighters/coaches alot. If you are a good striker then the best thing for you to do to make your stand up mma effective is to build and have confidence in your ground game. All strikers are different and have different tools. What he needs to do is learn mma and mold his striking for his mma.

 

[millasur]

DISCLAIMER!!!!: I have only fought 1 MMA bout....... Got my ass kicked! However, this was the advice I would have given myself prior to my ass whipping! I fought a wrestler who laid on me the entire time, never really hurt me, just held me down the whole damn time....... As much as I would like to talk shit, he still got a W vs my L....... Either way, I have started working alot harder on my wrestling/BJJ, maybe another mma bout is in the future?

As this topic is heading further off topic but is still very interesting:

Funny how this came up later, lucky I read the last page I was just about to say couldn't you just learn the sprawl and wait till the shot, then lie on top of HIM. (throwing knees / elbows etc)

One thing that 'gets' me with MMA is some guys have a sprawl that is seemingly almost unbeatable, whereas in others the relentless takedown always results in problems, like the fighters that shoot, grab a leg, and just hold it up against the cage for half the round - thinking about it now is it fair to say it's in the higher weight classes that people don't get taekn down? eg chuck / silva almost never get taken down (beign stronger), but in the lower weight classes some people can't stay on their feet at all.

But anyways - the point of this ramblingness hypothesis. work on your sprawl and your takedown defence, and punish when you're in top position?

Again, maybe me being cynical, but so much of it depensd on the fighter - so man ytimes you see peopel stuck against the acge but standing and it's like why dont you use a simple foot trip or judo throw? But it's because they haven't trained?! Other times people are on the bk foot and getting pushed all over the cage, then a quick switch and trip and suddenly they're in side mount on top. So my advice would be Judo+ wrestling for sure, i dont see how you'd end up in a bad position (eg on your back) in this case.

And to the TS, I can imagine the defensive MT stance with the 'bobbing' front foot would be very useful to you as you can kick well off the lead leg, which will keep your opp thinking twice before reacting. I was guna suggest Teeps as well, but not sure how practical they are in an MMA scenario...

 

[ssullivan80]

As this topic is heading further off topic but is still very interesting:

Funny how this came up later, lucky I read the last page I was just about to say couldn't you just learn the sprawl and wait till the shot, then lie on top of HIM. (throwing knees / elbows etc)

Again, maybe me being cynical, but so much of it depensd on the fighter - so man ytimes you see peopel stuck against the acge but standing and it's like why dont you use a simple foot trip or judo throw? But it's because they haven't trained?! Other times people are on the bk foot and getting pushed all over the cage, then a quick switch and trip and suddenly they're in side mount on top. So my advice would be Judo+ wrestling for sure, i dont see how you'd end up in a bad position (eg on your back) in this case.

I was guna suggest Teeps as well, but not sure how practical they are in an MMA scenario...

Believe me, I trained the sprawl relentlessly leading up to that match. It was effective at first, but a great wrestler vs a guy with very limited ground/wrestling experience, it was just a matter of time. I just missed a knee during his double leg that I am pretty sure would have changed the dynamic of the fight. We will never know.

One of the reasons I advised using a more traditional boxing stance was because had I done that, I think I could have defended that takedown much better. I instead went with what was more comfortable (closer to the balanced MT stance referenced below) and thought I could rely on my quickness and footwork. Unfortunately, not the case.

What seems like a simple technique in practice, becomes exceedingly more difficult in a real match. I have had the opportunity to spar/roll/train with a couple of guys who are BJJ black belts, Judo black belts and decorated wrestlers, all of them with pro mma fights and most of them 10-20pds lighter than me and not as strong (weight room strong). From my experience "just sprawl" is pretty damn hard, I got tossed around almost effortlessly by them!

So I agree, regardless of how good a striker you are, in mma, judo/wrestling/bjj/sambo....etc are necessary to become competitive at a higher level, even in amateur it is necessary to have at least a solid foundation in some form of ground/wrestling, I found out the hard way!

P.S: Teeps always get me in trouble with good wrestlers........ just my experience, some guys are real good at using them. I like to almost feint a teep (if that makes sense) and follow in with hands or knees.

 

[blanko]

As this topic is heading further off topic but is still very interesting:

Funny how this came up later, lucky I read the last page I was just about to say couldn't you just learn the sprawl and wait till the shot, then lie on top of HIM. (throwing knees / elbows etc)

One thing that 'gets' me with MMA is some guys have a sprawl that is seemingly almost unbeatable, whereas in others the relentless takedown always results in problems, like the fighters that shoot, grab a leg, and just hold it up against the cage for half the round - thinking about it now is it fair to say it's in the higher weight classes that people don't get taekn down? eg chuck / silva almost never get taken down (beign stronger), but in the lower weight classes some people can't stay on their feet at all.

in a cage the ability to "sprawl" is not that significant because you get pused to the fence and taken down. Guys like chuck liddel have an EXTENSIVE wrestling background/solid chin that allows them to get back up on their feet. I don't know which silva you are talking about so i can't comment on the silva statment.

But anyways - the point of this ramblingness hypothesis. work on your sprawl and your takedown defence, and punish when you're in top position?

Exactamundo! you have to make your opponent pay for his takedown attempts. This is one of the reasons i want knees to the head, the lack of them allows wrestlsers to just hang on one leg for dear life.

 

[blanko]

I will say something that will get me flamed but fuck it:

To those who talk about so called "FOOTWORK"..... To those who talk about professional mma fighters having so called "bad footwork". I really question your background. I really do. Because a fool will say that any high lvl wrestler has "poor footwork". it's impossible to take people down if you have bad footwork. An all american collegiate wrestler does not have "bad footwork" he as AMAZING FOOTWORK for WRESTLING.

Oh i know what people will say "we are talking about striking blah blah blah".. But what are we talking about? K-1, Pro boxing? Point Karate? Olympic TKD? No, we are talking about mma, and just like a striker like anderson isn't looking to wrestle, a wrestler isn't looking to strike. his footwork is based on what he wants to do in MMA. That is to take people down, and striking is just a MEANS to that end. I understand this and people who so called "trained mma" don't. That's why I think many here are talking from the "hypothetical" rather than the "real.”

 

[RJ Powell**]

^ i still think the footwork for standing up in MMA has alot of room for improvement if that is what you're getting at. It will only get better.

 

[Strykerx]

I will say something that will get me flamed but fuck it:

To those who talk about so called "FOOTWORK"..... To those who talk about professional mma fighters having so called "bad footwork". I really question your background. I really do. Because a fool will say that any high lvl wrestler has "poor footwork". it's impossible to take people down if you have bad footwork. An all american collegiate wrestler does not have "bad footwork" he as AMAZING FOOTWORK for WRESTLING.

Oh i know what people will say "we are talking about striking blah blah blah".. But what are we talking about? K-1, Pro boxing? Point Karate? Olympic TKD? No, we are talking about mma, and just like a striker like anderson isn't looking to wrestle, a wrestler isn't looking to strike. his footwork is based on what he wants to do in MMA. That is to take people down, and striking is just a MEANS to that end. I understand this and people who so called "trained mma" don't. That's why I think many here are talking from the "hypothetical" rather than the "real.

 

[ssullivan80]

I will say something that will get me flamed but fuck it:

To those who talk about so called "FOOTWORK"..... To those who talk about professional mma fighters having so called "bad footwork". I really question your background. I really do. Because a fool will say that any high lvl wrestler has "poor footwork". it's impossible to take people down if you have bad footwork. An all american collegiate wrestler does not have "bad footwork" he as AMAZING FOOTWORK for WRESTLING.

Oh i know what people will say "we are talking about striking blah blah blah".. But what are we talking about? K-1, Pro boxing? Point Karate? Olympic TKD? No, we are talking about mma, and just like a striker like anderson isn't looking to wrestle, a wrestler isn't looking to strike. his footwork is based on what he wants to do in MMA. That is to take people down, and striking is just a MEANS to that end. I understand this and people who so called "trained mma" don't. That's why I think many here are talking from the "hypothetical" rather than the "real.

 

[devante]

I will say something that will get me flamed but fuck it:

To those who talk about so called "FOOTWORK"..... To those who talk about professional mma fighters having so called "bad footwork". I really question your background. I really do. Because a fool will say that any high lvl wrestler has "poor footwork". it's impossible to take people down if you have bad footwork. An all american collegiate wrestler does not have "bad footwork" he as AMAZING FOOTWORK for WRESTLING.

Oh i know what people will say "we are talking about striking blah blah blah".. But what are we talking about? K-1, Pro boxing? Point Karate? Olympic TKD? No, we are talking about mma, and just like a striker like anderson isn't looking to wrestle, a wrestler isn't looking to strike. his footwork is based on what he wants to do in MMA. That is to take people down, and striking is just a MEANS to that end. I understand this and people who so called "trained mma" don't. That's why I think many here are talking from the "hypothetical" rather than the "real.

 

[devante]

also if your in an mma match, u can't just apply wrestling footwork to mma; yeah u might not be looking to strike, but ur in an mma match u have to be prepared to strike and/or def strikes..

so while your footwork is fine in regards to wrestling, judo, etc; it is detrimental and below par in regards to striking and/or mma.

 

[Tabris]

The number one thing to make your striking better in MMA is having very good take down defense.

That means learn wrestling. Train and drill it over and over and watch lots and lots of fight tape.