What I learned from my first live amateur cage fight.

LoL.

"hit harder and work more angles"...

Do you train at all? And you need to realize that a lot of small shows put together so/so fights.

Also, the majority of fighters DON'T like getting hit in the face and during the course of an event you're likely to see MAYBE one minute of guys standing and trading the whole night.

As for the lack of sprawling and/or general lack of wrestling ability...It's because MMA has taken off so much in the last couple of years that people are now coming into the sport with no previous grappling art (wrestling, judo etc.) experience, and thus the level of wrestling ability in MMA is pretty low on average.

And yes, most people have a tough time with cardio in their first fight, or first grappling competition because the nerves typically stop people from sleeping 100% the night before, makes them nervous and sets their heartbeat off before the fight etc. etc.

That said, the professional fights on a card should feature less gassing early. If you're going to fight pro, you should be professional enough to know that you need sic cardio to actually fight. I have some understanding for the amateur fighters though, especially if its their first amateur fight.
 
YeahBee said:
this seems underused at the highest levels IMO
Click to expand...

I disagree. When you knee the ribs from side mount, you have to use the leg that's closer to your opponent's hips. The other one would only hit the head, being illegal. To deliver the knee, you have to move it back or lift it up to create space, which gives a huge opening right at your opponent's hips, where your knee used to be. The reason you had the knee there in the first place is because it helps maintain the position by stopping the shrimp to escape side control. When you move the leg back to deliver the knee, that moment makes it much much easier for the guy on bottom to escape the position.

That's why you don't see guys use it much at the high level.
 
The level of competition @ an amateur fight can vary greatly. As someone else posted, the standards are pretty low to get in and fight these days.

I've heard stories of guys who had 4-5+ yrs of training not being able to get an amateur fight and forced? to start as a pro.
 
Local shows can be hit or miss, it all depends on the promoter and his experience or lack there of. you cant judge am fighters and local shows on one card in lawton OK. I to have been to fights that have been little more than a brawl between two guys that have little more than youtube training. On the other end i have been to am shows that are quality productions an have fighters whom have years of training and put on a show that are technical and as good as anything the big boys can put on. After you have seen about a dozen or so shows around your region you can separate the wannabes from the real deal.
 
SuperSuperRambo said:
I disagree. When you knee the ribs from side mount, you have to use the leg that's closer to your opponent's hips. The other one would only hit the head, being illegal. To deliver the knee, you have to move it back or lift it up to create space, which gives a huge opening right at your opponent's hips, where your knee used to be. The reason you had the knee there in the first place is because it helps maintain the position by stopping the shrimp to escape side control. When you move the leg back to deliver the knee, that moment makes it much much easier for the guy on bottom to escape the position.

That's why you don't see guys use it much at the high level.
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm envisioning this wrong, but are you thinking side mount high enough that the near arm is trapped, maybe even between your legs?

You'd certainly hit the head. But if your high leg was on the other side of the arm, you'd have a clean shot at the upper ribs - not as good as if you could get it lower, but ~

You could probably switch to blocking the hip with your hand, maybe convince him to try some sort of running escape for the back take. Hard to say.
 
SuperSuperRambo said:
I disagree. When you knee the ribs from side mount, you have to use the leg that's closer to your opponent's hips. The other one would only hit the head, being illegal. To deliver the knee, you have to move it back or lift it up to create space, which gives a huge opening right at your opponent's hips, where your knee used to be. The reason you had the knee there in the first place is because it helps maintain the position by stopping the shrimp to escape side control. When you move the leg back to deliver the knee, that moment makes it much much easier for the guy on bottom to escape the position.

That's why you don't see guys use it much at the high level.
Click to expand...


Wouldn't switching to a modified side control with the top arm on the far side of his head and the near arm in between you body and his hips? This allows you to keep your weight on him, block the shrimp escape, and still deliver knees.

I couldn't find a good pic, but this one shows what I'm talking about:
showImage.aspx
 
I get that it's a bit surprising how many punches can be thrown without seeing a fighter get dropped etc. This is again in part due to the huge boom that MMA has gotten in recent years. People come in with minimal experience and technique and so the techniques they use are not 100% proper. Getting hit hard by someone who knows how to hit is god awful. Getting hit "hard" by someone who doesn't know how to punch properly isn't so bad.

It may be that the fighters were throwing arm punches as opposed to getting all their weight behind it.

It's kind of interesting to see actually. We've had kids come down from another school and train with us and a few of those kids had amateur fights, but none of them seemed to be anything special in terms of grappling or striking ability.

Some schools push their guys to do amateur fights sooner rather than later. I think that you should probably train at least 2 years before considering an MMA fight.

But yeah, smaller shows are very often hit and miss from fight to fight. Some fights can be great, evenly matched, some can be huge blowouts and sometimes you get two guys in the ring who look like they've both only trained 2 months.
 
What?? hard to believe all those moves you see on TV weren't working, are you sure you were watching UFC & not bully beat down??


Dude fighting is hard, you can train for years & get in the ring & have a hard time landing a solid punch or be effective on the ground. Thats why experience is such a factor in fights, you have to get in there to learn & go back to the gym with your knowledge. Simple things work best, the 1-2, lots of conditioning can win fights.
 
LocalNmass said:
The level of competition @ an amateur fight can vary greatly. As someone else posted, the standards are pretty low to get in and fight these days.

I've heard stories of guys who had 4-5+ yrs of training not being able to get an amateur fight and forced? to start as a pro.
Click to expand...

The competition certainly does, from the many cans, to the guys that take it very seriously, and then to Robert Drysdale.
 
^^^LoL wonder how Drysdales opponent felt. I would be like "hey I get to met a world class grappler"
 
SuperSuperRambo said:
I disagree. When you knee the ribs from side mount, you have to use the leg that's closer to your opponent's hips. The other one would only hit the head, being illegal. To deliver the knee, you have to move it back or lift it up to create space, which gives a huge opening right at your opponent's hips, where your knee used to be. The reason you had the knee there in the first place is because it helps maintain the position by stopping the shrimp to escape side control. When you move the leg back to deliver the knee, that moment makes it much much easier for the guy on bottom to escape the position.

That's why you don't see guys use it much at the high level.
Click to expand...

risk vs reward:D, knees like that would suck or elbows to the side tigh. I don't fight MMA but I have been hit in the head alot (in a short boxing stint and on da "streets") I still cringe when i see knees to the ribs

Bait with the knee, the dude underneath moves to get half or full guard and you move for the mount, seems plausible no?
 
I remember what I learned from my first live cage fight....that this shit is aswome and way better live than on TV and I gotta get in that cage and fight
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,263,098
Messages
57,206,309
Members
175,585
Latest member
Absy

Share this page

Back
Top