Volkanovski RL base

Well if he had rugby stamina at 215 ….. not surprised he has insane cardio at 160 lbs or whatever he weighs when rehydrated …..I went from 297lbs to 205 lbs and feel like a new man ( cardio way better and dick got bigger )
 
He’s the most physically imposing FW I’ve seen. He’s short but he’s a big dude.
 
Johnny_Knuckles said:
Rugby being a base for mma must be a joke hahaha
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There are plenty of rugby players who could destroy lower level MMA fighters with nothing but their athleticism. You add some striking and grappling training to that and they could be good.
 
Rugby is the greatest team sport ever. This guys have cardio for days, are strong af and athletic like soccer players. It's the toughest team sport with a lot of bad motherfuckers. American Football is just the pussyfied, rainbow version of it.
 
Yep, grew up playing league. So I mean its helpful, its physically tough and there is some crossover. But lets not get overblown & say its ideal or better than boxing/kickboxing/wrestling. I don't think we're going to get a lot of league players into ufc.

The main benefits would be the cardio & strength focus of the sport. The tackle in league isn't "over" as early as an NFL tackle- there's a lot of struggling with 1-3 guys wrapping you up if you don't go down early- the reps on take down defence would be beneficial.

Then on the ground there's no pause in the game so the wrestle is now for ball carrier trying to get up & start play quickly so his team can get a roll on & defenders trying to hold & entangle him so he's slower. All sorts of unusual positions to struggle from- again with arms & legs wrapped everywhere from leg to neck- similarities to wrestling. When he was struggling in those submission attempts and straining for leverage I remember thinking the same thing about fighting tackles and his league background. The use of strength very similar.

Making 30-40 tackles per game for players in the middle is normal. All season for 20 odd games. And running it yourself into the tackles about 10-15 times again is an average amount. That's a lot of reps at high intensity over seasons.

But the thousands of guys who grow up olympic wrestling in the USA would probably have a better base to start from- it's also very demanding + more directly applicable.
 
Let's not forget Volk did some wrestling as a young before going to rugby league and was a wrestling national champion at age 12.
 
Anderson Silva used to work at Mcdonalds, the discipline and muscle memory from flipping burgers and making sure the fries don’t burn is where he got his timing and discipline from. Many other MMA fighters came from fast food backgrounds early in life.
 
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Bearknuckle said:
Anderson Silva used to work at Mcdonalds, the discipline and muscle memory from flipping burgers and making sure the fries don’t burn is where he got his timing and discipline from. Many other MMA fighters came from fast food backgrounds early in life.
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The fact that he played rugby league is a big factor of his mma career.

Flipping burgers is not.
 
I agree with the premise.
The training, play style and intangible requirements of rugby league are fantastic for building an athletic base that suits transitioning into MMA.
Compared to American football, or soccer, or baseball or whatever, the rugby league format will produce a conditioned athlete more aligned with the requirements of a 5x5 MMA fight.
 
kyunghee said:
Let's not forget Volk did some wrestling as a young before going to rugby league and was a wrestling national champion at age 12.
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To be fair, being a national wrestling champ in Australia means fuck all.
 
xhaydenx said:
There are plenty of rugby players who could destroy lower level MMA fighters with nothing but their athleticism. You add some striking and grappling training to that and they could be good.
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The word "base" here is referring to the skills and attributes that one develops in participating in a sport.
You are comparing guys who are naturally athletic and successful participating in Rugby vs guys who are not naturally athletic and relatively unsuccessful competing in MMA, which is a false comparison. If we are going to compare Rugby vs wrestling/judo/BJJ/etc, then you must start with an equal platform.

If you take the same unathletic guy and have him train in a TMA he will beat the brakes off of the version of himself in Rugby. Likewise if you start with a natural athlete and have him in each. Sure, in rugby they will probably be better conditioned, but in a TMA they will be FAR better skilled for a fight.

Too many people in here seem completely ignorant to the meaning of the word "base" in this context. Without a doubt a natural athlete will have a huge advantage regardless of what he trains, and without a doubt a guy who trains in any endurance based sport will have a huge advantage over a couch potato. That does not make it a good "base".
"Base" is suggesting whether the same person will likely perform better in MMA after training in one sport vs another, and you have completely lost your mind if you think the same guy would fight better after training rugby than if he trained any of the common MMA elements.
 
Rugby players have to get an amazing gas tank and strenght to hold up positions but as someone who doesn't know shit about rugby what the hell is the hooker position?
 
fortheo said:
As an athletic base for MMA, it's absolutely not a joke. He has a better athletic base than most guys. That mixture of elite cardio and explosive power comes from years of conditioning in rugby.
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fortheo said:
So you think a person with no athletic backround has a better athletic base for MMA than a guy that played rugby at a reasonably high level for years? You don't realize how importatant physical conditioning is in MMA?
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Perfect example of someone who doesn't understand what "base" means and has repeatedly referred to how it is a better "base" than doing nothing.
you-dont-say-nicholas-cage.gif


Nobody... abso-freakin-lutely nobody in this thread suggested that doing no sports at all would be as good of a "base" as rugby. To call rugby a good "base" is saying it is on par with things like judo, karate, etc.

Volk happens to be a very good athlete who trained in a very athletic sport and moved on and became very skillful in MMA. Some MMA fighters are unathletic guys to begin with who happened to become skilled enough to be successful, but that doesn't make rugby the better base. Volk's best "base" was his natural god-given attributes of being athletic, talented, and hard working. If you took Volks DNA and put it in a guy who trained nothing but combat sports his entire life with the same dedication, current Volk would be lucky if his cardio lasted long enough to matter.
 
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OP, so what you are saying is that Volk is a weight bully and should be fighting at LHW at the minimum if not HW?
 
Talon81 said:
The word "base" here is referring to the skills and attributes that one develops in participating in a sport.
You are comparing guys who are naturally athletic and successful participating in Rugby vs guys who are not naturally athletic and relatively unsuccessful competing in MMA, which is a false comparison. If we are going to compare Rugby vs wrestling/judo/BJJ/etc, then you must start with an equal platform.

If you take the same unathletic guy and have him train in a TMA he will beat the brakes off of the version of himself in Rugby. Likewise if you start with a natural athlete and have him in each. Sure, in rugby they will probably be better conditioned, but in a TMA they will be FAR better skilled for a fight.

Too many people in here seem completely ignorant to the meaning of the word "base" in this context. Without a doubt a natural athlete will have a huge advantage regardless of what he trains, and without a doubt a guy who trains in any endurance based sport will have a huge advantage over a couch potato. That does not make it a good "base".
"Base" is suggesting whether the same person will likely perform better in MMA after training in one sport vs another, and you have completely lost your mind if you think the same guy would fight better after training rugby than if he trained any of the common MMA elements.
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Ah, I get what you're saying. I wasn't understanding what you meant by base, as you explained it.
 
xhaydenx said:
Ah, I get what you're saying. I wasn't understanding what you meant by base, as you explained it.
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No worries. My answer was probably also unnecessarily aggressive. I get frustrated easily sometimes. lol
 
ColombianFist said:
Rugby players have to get an amazing gas tank and strenght to hold up positions but as someone who doesn't know shit about rugby what the hell is the hooker position?
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In league rugby hooker is a spot often filled by shorter, tough people. Named for their position in the scrum where they "hook" their arms over the top of a player either side to form a bind which helps direct their sides energy in the scrum.

Their other job is to follow the play and be the first pass/run after every tackle- so huge cardio needed because you're always following the play, never resting. Hence usually smaller people.

Tough because they defend in the middle of the park where all the biggest bodies in other positions run. So the hooker often being the smallest guy in that zone of the field, gets a lot of big guys picking him to run at.
 
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