Why don't MMA gyms properly develop their fighters?

[muaytao]

Ain’t nobody got time for that amateur stuff

 

[BoxMeIrl]

I walked into a boxing gym the other day and asked how long I would need to train to have an amateur fight. The trainer told me come in every day then 1 year. Extensive amateur careers and proper development is just part of boxing's culture.

I've been to MMA gyms before and seen guys fighting after 3 months. They have 2 amateur fights then turn pro. Guys have title shots with 10-15 fights.

So, you see guys at even the UFC level with all these obvious flaws in their games that would have been ironed out with proper development.

Why is it not part of MMA's culture to properly develop their fighters?

MMA has the weakest amateur system out of any mainstream sport.

 

[NoSmilez]

There have been many pro MMA fighters who never had a single amateur fight.

BJ Penn went from training and competing in BJJ for 3 years straight to fighting in the UFC for example.

BJ PENN made his debut almost 20 years ago. There wasn't any foundation for MMA in terms of an amateur ranking system. Pretty much MMA was an amateur sport. Guys with only black belts were coming out of Brazil to compete.

I don't think this happens in today's mma landscape. There are amateur circuits and ranking system vs having none in the past. The only people I see that make their pro debut immediately are older athletes with extensive past in another combat sport or have extraordinary athleticism from another sport. The thread is about gyms developing mma fighters so let's look at debuting fighters or fighters under 25 or close to it.

Some examples of young fighters with an amateur background are Sean O'Malley, Kevin Lee, Macy Barber, Rose, Lando, Max Holloway, necktats, Mirsad.
Fighters without are Alexa Grasso(mexico), Yair(mexico), Andrade(Brazil), Kelvin

It is more common to see young fighters with an amateur background in the States since there is a ranking system and leagues. In the past, fighters did smokers instead of amateur fights. Off the top of head, I seen Rampage compete in smokers while he was still in Pride and we all seen the shogun brawl in a house with many people watching.

 

[Blayt7hh]

So TS walked into one boxing gym, got one answer. Then decided all boxing gyms are like this. At the same time, presumably never walked into an MMA gym and asked this question but assumes that most MMA gyms would put you in the cage in less than a year ?

 

[JRubin]

Tristar still doesnt have a wrestling class...

Figure that one out.

 

[NoSmilez]

Tristar still doesnt have a wrestling class...

Figure that one out.

I think you will be fine doing a no gi class with standup grappling.

 

[Chomsky Honk]

There have been many pro MMA fighters who never had a single amateur fight.

BJ Penn went from training and competing in BJJ for 3 years straight to fighting in the UFC for example.

 

[Fight Professor]

Entry skill level to professional MMA is relatively low.

 

[Joe Myers]

You need a bigger gym test pool to even form a valid opinion..
From my experience; it really just depends on the gym and the coach. Amateur circuit in Ohio requires 5 amateur fights, with a winning record before turning pro. Some guys get impatient, fighting multiple times in a summer just to be able to turn pro and finally get paid a little something for their hard work. But it's the coaches job to dial them back and tell them when they're ready.

Example one: small gym in Tiffen, Ohio. Elite Sports Academy. The coach was also the promoter. He encouraged his guys to compete, whether they were ready or not to fill up his cards. I remember I brought an old wrestling buddy into the gym to help the guys out one day. The guy had no stand up, no desire to do mma. But the coach went after him, requesting he come in more often and would be given a fight. Stuff like this is what hurts the athletes development.
Example two: large gym in Independence, Ohio. Strongstyle MMA. Multiple coaches for each discipline. You can train with high level bjj guys one day, world class boxing trainers the next. But if you want to compete; specifically in mma, you have to go through extensive training and try-outs to even be considered eligible to train with the team. This is how you sort out the contenders from the pretenders. This is how you separate the guys who want to fight from the ones who simply want to say they worked out at Stipes gym.

 

[beastman]

In the early 00's you could go to a gym in Iowa, train 3 weeks and get an MMA fight.

Nowadays I don't think you are fighting after 3 months unless you have an extensive grappling background. Most states do have athletic commissions who will look at your application to fight and review your medicals.

 

[JRubin]

I think you will be fine doing a no gi class with standup grappling.

Lol what??

 

[eiyuu]

Truthfully, there shouldn't be "MMA" gyms.

Fighters should specialize in one martial art or fighting style, be it boxing, wrestling, BJJ, muay thai, etc. Then crosstrain to become more well-rounded.

All these jack-of-all trades, master-of-none gyms and fighters are not best suited for the sport as it makes for sloppy standup leading to boring ground games.

 

[POWER2]

MMA is still in its infancy to be honest.

 

[NoSmilez]

Lol what??

Oh in bjj gyms around me, they call standup the wrestling/throwing portion. I can see it confusing other people. I am also assuming you don't train BJJ since it is a common term that is somewhat used in the community. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=bjj+standup

 

[Daniel4802]

MMA gyms send untrained newbs to local amateur cards to feed promotional stars' records while pocketing money for themselves. One of my friends had just a few weeks of MMA training and they convinced her to fight on a local show against a veteran of the promotion. Basically it's a money scam that these gyms run.

 

[Normot]

The real fighters on the team the coaches take seriously all come in with a background in something. We got a lot of yahoos that we let fight other yahoo's though. Shits fun and more importantly, hilarious.

 

[gono btw]

I walked into a boxing gym the other day and asked how long I would need to train to have an amateur fight. The trainer told me come in every day then 1 year. Extensive amateur careers and proper development is just part of boxing's culture.

I've been to MMA gyms before and seen guys fighting after 3 months. They have 2 amateur fights then turn pro. Guys have title shots with 10-15 fights.


Why is it not part of MMA's culture to properly develop their fighters?

Spoiler

http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/deconstructing-mma-myths-part-11-fighters´evolution.3827221/

 

[imarayda]

Not enough money, young sport.

 

[Tugboat]

School I went to it was when the master said it was ok. Never three months, for anyone. Ts you can’t expect everyone mma school to be the same.

 

[Anaconda99]

Part of it is just that MMA breaks your body down more, i dont know about concussions but MMA seems to take a toll on your whole body, also most gyms dont care about you they just want as many fighters as possible coming out of their gym, a lot of times those gyms will have amateur and pro fight card filled with their own talents.