Why do many UFC fighters fight so rarely compared to boxers?

[Doctor Grudge]

Has nothing to do with MMA being more damaging or harder.


It's because the UFC is a singular promotion. dana and his booker simply control when fighters get to fight. That's literally it, they want ample time to promote their fights for the top fighters, and make sure they have fights that make financial sense.

Kyoji Horiguchii left the UFC in part because he did not like how difficult it was to fight frequently in the UFC. Or so he claimed.

The UFC doesn't give that Donald Cerrone type of schedule to everyone. Too difficult to coordinate that.

The logistics of fighting exclusively for a promotion. Boxers do not have this type of restriction, so they can fight as often as they'd like and usually against any caliber opponent that they like.

 

[Th3Sav4ge]

mma isnt old enough to coddle a fighter from birth beating on 35 cans as an ameteur before they get the step up only to be coddled for 30+ more fights

 

[mma sharingan]

Everyone saying it's tough on the body go check muay thai out, its common for fighters to have 200+ fight on their record.. they make the rest of combat sports look like sissys honestly.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

If I'm correct, GSP and Jones have had less than 30 fights. Silva at his advanced age and activity had under 50. Granted they likely step up In competition much quicker than boxers, but less than 30 fights? Lol

Ffs Floyd and manny have nearly as many title fights as these guys had fights

Floyd has
2 fights in 2015
2 in 2014
2 in 2013
1 in 12
1 in 11
1 in 10
1 in 09
0 in 08
2 in 07
2 in 06
3 in 05
1 in 04
2 in 03
2 in 02
That's 22 fights in 14 years. An average of 1.57 fights per year.

From 2002-2013 GSP had 27 fights which is an average of 2.08 fights per year.
Bisping had 14 years had 39 fights an average of 2.79 fights per year.
Anderson had 44 fights from 2000-2020 average of 2.2

Boxer's pad their record with around 20 fights vs cans just to get started.

 

[mashonkeyboard]

Different sports are "SHOCKING!!!" different...Why don't you compare to the thais, who have like 200-300 fights in a career.

 

[Kryptt]

Cause MMA overall is a Cheap Ass Bubble.

/Thread

 

[Satan's Daddy.]

Probably cause there is skin on skin contact in mma in comparison to boxing so it's more brutal just because of that blatant fact. But it doesn't really matter cause both of them have their inactive fighters. So yeah, gunna see it more often now cause of fear of future health related issues or what not. Idk just a theory.

 

[sakfjgadsyukgf]

People already mentioned that grappling is way tougher on your body, which is a big part of it. Specifically wrestling is just really, really bad for you. Also to get ready for an MMA fight you have to go through a brutal training camp to maximize your striking (aerobic) cardio, but also maximize your grappling (anaerobic) cardio. Tough to get those two separate energy systems at max capacity 10+ times a year.

Was surprised that only one person so far mentioned the UFC's schedule. Like..... that's a huge part of it. The UFC literally is not going to offer more than 2 fights a year to most fighters, or if they do so it may not be on a schedule that works for where that fighter is at physically or injury-wise at that time. Boxers don't have that problem.

Also MMA fighters tend to cut more weight than boxers, so multiple brutal weight cuts a year is also a challenge

 

[Tapioca Cold]

You're high.

 

[Paladin]

If I'm correct, GSP and Jones have had less than 30 fights. Silva at his advanced age and activity had under 50. Granted they likely step up In competition much quicker than boxers, but less than 30 fights? Lol

Ffs Floyd and manny have nearly as many title fights as these guys had fights

A boxing KO vía punch does damage, but I’d imagine a head kick KO does significantly more damage.

boxing training is not near and demanding as MMA training in the sense that you need to master way more techniques, and the injuries are more frequent in mma (legs, joints, arms, etc)

 

[Fight Professor]

As mentioned, UFC fighters cannot fight across promotions and UFC can only do so many events.

Boxing fight camps are also more competent because they do not have to teach so many disciplines and they only need to concentrate on striking, general fitness and nutrition. In MMA you also have wrestling, grappling, clinch work, etc which is taxing on the body. So MMA fighters are injured more often.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

Everyone saying it's tough on the body go check muay thai out, its common for fighters to have 200+ fight on their record.. they make the rest of combat sports look like sissys honestly.

In many mt fights they don't take a lot of damage.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

Boxing is not hard on the human body in terms of getting twisted and compressed from grappling and dealing with a close ranged form of kickboxing like Muay Thai which you are prone to injuries.

Very seldom you see an MVP or a Cruz who rely on footwork as oppose to toughness. Still Cruz has been injured whole alot.

Another factor is defense. In boxing, you can learn defense enough to a point that you may lose a decision but avoid horrific head trauma. In boxing the top level trainers are NOT a bunch of bros who say shit like "Show me some fucking heart bro!!!"

With top level boxing trainers, if you are getting dinged in sparring, they pull you out of the sparring and have you go back in to the mirror to work on your form. Boxing is a science and not a fucking tough man competition. A trainer values their fighters safety not so much because of compassion but because its bad if their cash cow gets hurt. So the culture revolves around longevity and health.

Somebody’s come in from bizarro land. Longevity and health. Here I thought it was shady fucks, smokers, organized crime and brain damage.

 

[mma sharingan]

In many mt fights they don't take a lot of damage.

lmfao go do some muay thai n get back to me.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

lmfao go do some muay thai n get back to me.

Have you actually watched stadium MT? Scoring is not about damage but about control, off balancing, landing kicks that and knees that don't need to do damage.
Real MT in Thailand is nothing like what many people think MT is in the west, which is more like K1 and geared towards inflicting damage.

 

[TheMessiah]

Boxers are A Level athletes

 

[mma sharingan]

Have you actually watched stadium MT? Scoring is not about damage but about control, off balancing, landing kicks that and knees that don't need to do damage.
Real MT in Thailand is nothing like what many people think MT is in the west, which is more like K1 and geared towards inflicting damage.

Yup watched plenty of stadium MT, while what you say is somewhat true, ends 2-3-4 are generally fun with damaging strikes, I understand they stop fighting when they feel the decision is out of reach n they start dancing with each other usually in the final round or 2 so they dont do unnecessary damage to one another, but if its close they will continue. And your joking if you think those kicks n knees do no damage, there bodies are just well conditioned. I agree the majority of the western dont understand traditional muay thai n to some point I agree but their are countless crazy wars between Thais in stadiums and YOU gotta be retarded if you think those fights dont hurt.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

Yup watched plenty of stadium MT, while what you say is somewhat true, ends 2-3-4 are generally fun with damaging strikes, I understand they stop fighting when they feel the decision is out of reach n they start dancing with each other usually in the final round or 2 so they dont do unnecessary damage to one another, but if its close they will continue. And your joking if you think those kicks n knees do no damage, there bodies are just well conditioned. I agree the majority of the western dont understand traditional muay thai n to some point I agree but their are countless crazy wars between Thais in stadiums and YOU gotta be retarded if you think those fights dont hurt.

Of course some fights hurt and there are elbow KOs. Any fight involving Saeksan / Yodlekphet / Muang Thai usually involved a ton of damage.

BUT, that is not what MT is all about. You have a ton of fighters like Superlek / Panpayak / Kaonar / Sangmanee that tend to emphasise kicking exchanges. Do you understand that these guys don't need to KO eachother to please the gamblers, who are the ones running the sport?

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

Boxers tend to be brought along more slowly and with more record padding and cherry picking so they get built up over years. Then you've got guys who are pretty much paid to lose to pad peoples records, and they can fight dozens of times in a year.

 

[mma sharingan]

Of course some fights hurt and there are elbow KOs. Any fight involving Saeksan / Yodlekphet / Muang Thai usually involved a ton of damage.

BUT, that is not what MT is all about. You have a ton of fighters like Superlek / Panpayak / Kaonar / Sangmanee that tend to emphasise kicking exchanges. Do you understand that these guys don't need to KO eachother to please the gamblers, who are the ones running the sport?

Yeah the elbows n knees can do a lot or damage, hell after my last muay thai fight I blew a ligament out in my right ankle and couldn't walk properly for 6 weeks. Other fights I've been back to the gym 2 days later. Every fight is different in that sense.

You actually think those kicking exchanges dont hurt? 3min round of kicking exchanges will hurt a shit ton load more than something like Jon Fitches entire mma career, my point is in MMA a lot of these guys game plans involve taking down n opponent n nullifying their offense without putting on much of their own, I've seen countless fights in MMA where the winner n loser both dont have a mark on them.

Yeah I understand that, sometimes it'd be better to get ko'd in 10seconds rather than take the accumulative damage that can come from a muay thai fight. You talk like their punches, kicks, knees n elbows dont have bad intentions on them nor does a kick hurt. I've competed in BJJ, boxing, kickboxing and muay thai, n while I was honestly surprised with BJJ hurting a lot more than I expected (so I do respect the grappling side of things n know some of the uncomfortable positions really do suck to be in) but I also know it sucks like hell to eat 10 leg kicks on the same spot and be crushed by a knee to the liver that had me pissing blood the next day, I havent had any injuries from BJJ, countless from muay thai haha