Gym/Training What should I do living in a city with poor fighting scenario?

phfelipe.mma

phfelipe.mma

"The Psychopath"
@White
Joined
Apr 5, 2025
Messages
11
Reaction score
4
I live in the contryside of São Paulo, Brazil. Here I don't have coaches for my goal, there are only two MMA fighters in the city, both mid-level oldschool guys with numerous circumstances that keep me away from them. I’ve had two local amateur MMA fights, relying only on commercial Muay Thai training and poor grappling drills I did with BJJ black belts who train MT at my gym. The MT scene here is strong, although weak in technique and lacking connections with relevant events in the state. The only path I currently see is switching to BJJ just like all the MMA fighters from my city did like Tabatha Ricci from UFC (the most beautiful female fighter of Ultimate is from here XD) or try to improve by myself. I'm 17 years old and have zero possibility of moving from here to look for a decent gym or coach.

Someone which had a simmilar experience and made it thru or any advice I could take?
 
I used to be in a similar situation than you in my country. There were average gyms with medium or good trainers, yet I struggled to find sparring partners at all in boxing and kickboxing gyms. Wanted to go to the US to wrestle, didn't have the money, went to Russia instead. Competed in Freestyle and Sambo, didn't regret it. In Russia, there were often more than 30 50 sparring mates in a same room, for all weightclass, but there were no beginners, only amateurs and pros. As an amateur I benefited a lot from sparring with people better than me.

My advice is if you have only a vested interest in MMA, most Muay-Thai amateurish style and techniquesyou will find in Brazil do not translate well to MMA, the stance is too low which is very vulnerable to takedown despite being good for checking kicks, and also you want to punch 3 5 times more than kick in MMA, if your legs is caught the risk of getting takedown are higher.

So, Muay-Thai has to be adapted to MMA. Mobility is the best line of defense.

I wanted to go to Brazil to learn Luta Livre but never went there, but if you are training BJJ don't train with the GI, a lot of techniques do not translate to no-gi, like the spider guard.

Try to compete in Muay-Thai bouts or boxing bouts in amateurs with your MMA stance, get experienced in BJJ, and keep improving. You will probably need to find a better suitable environment to thrive, the best would be in a gym that has active fighters tied to a manager, with frequent bouts. If you want to go further, far, you will absolutely to go somewhere else.

Good luck in life.
 
Brewtalist said:
I used to be in a similar situation than you in my country. There were average gyms with medium or good trainers, yet I struggled to find sparring partners at all in boxing and kickboxing gyms. Wanted to go to the US to wrestle, didn't have the money, went to Russia instead. Competed in Freestyle and Sambo, didn't regret it. In Russia, there were often more than 30 50 sparring mates in a same room, for all weightclass, but there were no beginners, only amateurs and pros. As an amateur I benefited a lot from sparring with people better than me.

My advice is if you have only a vested interest in MMA, most Muay-Thai amateurish style and techniquesyou will find in Brazil do not translate well to MMA, the stance is too low which is very vulnerable to takedown despite being good for checking kicks, and also you want to punch 3 5 times more than kick in MMA, if your legs is caught the risk of getting takedown are higher.

So, Muay-Thai has to be adapted to MMA. Mobility is the best line of defense.

I wanted to go to Brazil to learn Luta Livre but never went there, but if you are training BJJ don't train with the GI, a lot of techniques do not translate to no-gi, like the spider guard.

Try to compete in Muay-Thai bouts or boxing bouts in amateurs with your MMA stance, get experienced in BJJ, and keep improving. You will probably need to find a better suitable environment to thrive, the best would be in a gym that has active fighters tied to a manager, with frequent bouts. If you want to go further, far, you will absolutely to go somewhere else.

Good luck in life.
Click to expand...
My Muay Thai coach is a ITF Taekwondo and Shotokan black belt so most of what he shared with me was someway with a step into high-level striking, but I adapted a lot on my own, the rhythm and the kicks like you said. And Luta Livre? I thought only us Brazilians knew about this, hahaha. I've talked to Marcelo Brigadeiro several times on Instagram, he's working on a project to expand Luta Livre throughout Brazil and also worldwide. I pretty much annoy him on every story he posts, asking for an Astra Fight Team gym in my city, lol.
 
Just go to the city... or forget it

Get a job in bars, nightclubs or restaurants, preferably places of wealthy people

Go to a boxing gym for 4 years, have amateur boxing fights
 
Last edited:
Why do you want to become an MMA fighter?
Serious question.

The decision to pursue a career in MMA is a serious matter. Many MMA fighters express regrets, often related to the physical toll, financial instability, and the intense mental pressure of the sport.

Do You have a backup plan in case this career fizzles out?
 
Hotora86 said:
Why do you want to become an MMA fighter?
Serious question.

The decision to pursue a career in MMA is a serious matter. Many MMA fighters express regrets, often related to the physical toll, financial instability, and the intense mental pressure of the sport.

Do You have a backup plan in case this career fizzles out?
Click to expand...

This man knows

Fighting is actually fucking boring as career choice, came as suprise to me back in day lol

While everyone else is making money ,traveling the world and doing "cool stuff" as young people do, you are stuck with no money in a gym beating and hugging sweaty men and the fact that you can beat up your friend who just road tripped across Asia making cool experiences doesnt warm your heart at night.

So think carefully about this stuff

(Yes i have regrets going after mma when young lol)
 
Hotora86 said:
Why do you want to become an MMA fighter?
Serious question.

The decision to pursue a career in MMA is a serious matter. Many MMA fighters express regrets, often related to the physical toll, financial instability, and the intense mental pressure of the sport.

Do You have a backup plan in case this career fizzles out?
Click to expand...
Fighting is simply my calling. I want to make it my way of life. I'm deeply passionate about MMA not just about becoming a fighter, but also about contributing to the growth and spread of the sport in any way I can. I see martial arts as a powerful social tool. On the mat, it doesn’t matter who you are outside of it, what truly matters is your skill, your discipline, and your respect. Especially here in Brazil, martial arts (mainly BJJ) has become a life-changing path for many, helping kids escape crime and build a future through dedication and hard work and I really think I could be helpful in that change.

I plan to have a short, but as remarkable a career as possible, traveling a lot, meeting people from all over, and try to get into high-level. And yes, I do have a backup plan. I’ll go into Law, just like the rest of my family if it all goes wrong.
 
phfelipe.mma said:
Fighting is simply my calling. I want to make it my way of life. I'm deeply passionate about MMA not just about becoming a fighter, but also about contributing to the growth and spread of the sport in any way I can. I see martial arts as a powerful social tool. On the mat, it doesn’t matter who you are outside of it, what truly matters is your skill, your discipline, and your respect. Especially here in Brazil, martial arts (mainly BJJ) has become a life-changing path for many, helping kids escape crime and build a future through dedication and hard work and I really think I could be helpful in that change.

I plan to have a short, but as remarkable a career as possible, traveling a lot, meeting people from all over, and try to get into high-level. And yes, I do have a backup plan. I’ll go into Law, just like the rest of my family if it all goes wrong.
Click to expand...
Thank You for the detailed reply. I do appreciate Your view. Have You considered becoming a coach instead? If contributing to the growth and spread of the sport is Your goal You will make a bigger impact as a coach than as a fighter. And it's a long-term career with a relatively stable income - as opposed to a fighter's career.
 
Cole train said:
Move, only choice

My village had nothing, moved to capital and became shitty ammy mma fighter lol
Click to expand...

The smart move is

Move to that city, get an education in a trade or field that has jobs. Be a good or shitty amateur mma fighter.

Find good places to train in the city you're studying or working in, do it for fun on the side while having a day job that pays the bills so you can afford to train at the good gyms without sleeping on the mats.

If OP has a path to law school he should take it.
 
Last edited:
Cole train said:
Fighting is actually fucking boring as career choice
Click to expand...
This doesn’t get talked about enough. I don’t start taking someone serious until they’ve got 2 years under their belt and can show up with the same excitement day in and day out to do the same old boring shit. Shadow boxing, bag work, sparring, road work. Repeat repeat repeat.

Work on your jab. Work on your head movement. Work on your footwork. Do it again. Say no to parties and drugs, women and late nights. Eat like an asshole for 6 weeks just to half kill yourself in a sauna so you can pose in your underpants and then fight a stranger.

This shit sucks.
 
Hotora86 said:
Thank You for the detailed reply. I do appreciate Your view. Have You considered becoming a coach instead? If contributing to the growth and spread of the sport is Your goal You will make a bigger impact as a coach than as a fighter. And it's a long-term career with a relatively stable income - as opposed to a fighter's career.
Click to expand...
Yes, I pretend to become a coach but I really think that to teach someone to get into the ring or cage you must at some time of your life had been part of this. I used to teach cardio kickboxing at a gym covering for the previous instructor for 4 months, he got fired for hitting on the women at the gym and breaking a 13yo kid's nose. I built a lot of confidence during that time. I used to feel a bit shy whenever I had to lead workouts in my coach’s absence, having my own class for a while really helped me work through that.
 
phfelipe.mma said:
Yes, I pretend to become a coach but I really think that to teach someone to get into the ring or cage you must at some time of your life had been part of this. I used to teach cardio kickboxing at a gym covering for the previous instructor for 4 months, he got fired for hitting on the women at the gym and breaking a 13yo kid's nose. I built a lot of confidence during that time. I used to feel a bit shy whenever I had to lead workouts in my coach’s absence, having my own class for a while really helped me work through that.
Click to expand...
That 1st sentence is not entirely true. There have been elite coaches in various sports who never even went pro. Eg Leonid Slutsky, long time head coach of CSKA Moscow and the Russian national team at one point. Pablo Sucupira is the head coach of Fighting Nerds and he never had any MMA fights. It's all possible.
 
Hotora86 said:
That 1st sentence is not entirely true. There have been elite coaches in various sports who never even went pro. Eg Leonid Slutsky, long time head coach of CSKA Moscow and the Russian national team at one point. Pablo Sucupira is the head coach of Fighting Nerds and he never had any MMA fights. It's all possible.
Click to expand...
Figthing skills and Teaching skills are very different things. You are not wrong about that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,280,313
Messages
58,274,972
Members
175,989
Latest member
gorakk

Share this page

Back
Top