Hey guys, I'm due to fight a 3x3 Amateur mma bout in Feburary. I currently have Venum Impact Evo Sparring gloves (Link) , which work wonderfully and I have no complaints about these gloves regarding sparring use. I'm thinking about using these same gloves for my fight, however I don't know if I should opt for something with less padding. Obviously not 4oz gloves as it's amateur but maybe something like RDX T6 which although are the same oz as the Venum, have less padding in the knuckle. Let me know what you guys think.

Me and my university friends do this friendly wrestling round together. You get a point if his whole body touches the ground, so in other words if you do a proper takedown you win the round. I did 4 rounds won 3 of them but it always felt like a close call.

I have only been training MMA for a month, so what are some takedowns that are reliable but also unforeseen?

How do I not get punched ?

I'm asking this because the other day i watched video comparing Dustin Poirier hitting Max Holloway in the sweet spot, and Topuria hitting in the same spot of the jaw, the difference is that Topuria knocked down Max after that but DP didn't.

So my question is, how much true is that phrase? Is it really that accurate or is that Mcgregor can say that just because he has power too?

Yesterday I hit the bag after a month off from any martial arts. I was just doing some boxing and kicking. But this time, anytime i pit my hands in the curled position when you make a fist in the glove it started to cramp a lot. From my middle finger, ring, and pinky on both hands.

It hurts more with boxing gloves as you have to curl more to have proper grip than with MMA gloves. But idk why my hands were hurting so much. They did not hurt this much when punching before.

Any solutions and help will be much appreciated. Thank you!

i just came back from the er with 8 stitches because i ate a full force body kick that caught me mid takedown and that hit my brows (where it bleeds easily). so please if you guys are gonna throw kicks, dont put any intent with it, otherwise you might send the other guy into the er.

Been boxing and kickboxing casually for a little over 3 years. I've been acting in my schools MMA club for a while and I'll be joining the local boxing gym next semester. I want to get really good at this shit but I know theres a long way for me to go.

I noticed my left hook is kinda weak. I normally rotate my whole body into it but I was trying Alex Pereira's technique this time. It felt like it was just my arm hitting the bag and not my whole body.

Let me know what I can improve on.

https://reddit.com/link/1h604p9/video/ridbrzkvlp4e1/player

Hello I'm interested in having a few matches under my belt. I'm a total noob to mma but I have years of self defense experience and have been successful in many street fights (by submission) What do I need to enter the ring?

So, probably the ones who replied on my last post won’t remember, but they basically just told me to go get started rather than worry about supplementary exercise, so I did. I just had my second session (although I’ve only attended the boxing ones so far as obviously my fitness is still a big issue), it’s definitely tiring but I enjoy it a lot.

However I’m in the “fish out of water” phase as I call it, which I expected and is fine. However there’s some stuff during the class that I’m struggling with that bothers me:

Holding pads for others. That’s a big one. I’m not used to it and half the time my memory is too sucky to remember the combo we have to do or something like that. I also struggle with the way I hold them, I got corrected today but I keep feeling my elbows drifting out, which puts a shitload of stress on my shoulders, just want to know if anyone has any tips to be mindful of That.

Footwork/technique, I want to practice this at home with minimal equipment if possible, I’m assuming shadow boxing is the way to go tho but if not please let me know.

Mental: I feel like when I’m doing combos to practice as well as my technique sucks that I forget or jumble it up, which idk if that’s just a very beginner thing to do or if I’m just stuck in my own head which causes me to mess it up.

Distancing: I feel I’m either too close or too far, more often the latter to land anything during a spar, I’m not afraid of getting hit but my defence does suck but I know it’s not fear of getting hit cause I think if I get hit it’s the only way I’ll learn but I genuinely struggle to land even one on these guys 😭

This question is a tad different, How are you supposed to eat to do this? Is it high protein like a body builder? Should I be bulking up or just trying to put on a little muscle or something I genuinely don’t know.

But yea, I’m going, I’m enjoying it (despite getting tired/hit), I also now understand I shouldn’t worry about supplementary exercise cause goddamn am I tired after an hour of boxing 😭😭

Thank You in advance!

Edit: Forgot to say! I’m dealing with a bit of wrist pain, wondering if that’s an issue with my technique or a teething issue etc. wondering what I could do to help it, thanks!

I recently switched gyms. I’ve been going to a new gym managed by a former professional for three months now, and things have been going well. My coach even told me I could go pro and said I have an exceptionally hard punch, especially for my weight class (I usually weigh 128 lbs and stand at 5'6"). He even mentioned setting me up for an amateur fight. One time during sparring, I even managed to beat one of his favorite students.

I was feeling really confident—until the coach made me spar with someone I’d never seen before. I’m 19, and this guy is 16, but he’s 6'2" and 145 lbs. When we got in the ring, the whole gym was watching, even the hobbyists waiting for the next class to start. I don’t think he’s much more experienced than me, but he completely obliterated me. He hit me harder than I’ve ever been hit before.

We went two rounds, but I completely lost focus in the second round. I basically just kept a high guard and became a sitting duck. I didn’t go down or anything, but from that point, I’ve had zero confidence in my ability. I’ve literally started going at a different time to avoid him.

I don’t know what’s happened to me. I just don’t want to get embarrassed again. I want to be known as a great fighter—you know, a tough guy—but now I’m always anxious when I spar.

Honestly mentally I'm not ok. I dont like to brawl. I like to win. I like when my coach or teammates praise me, but I dont like it when I'm not doing good. For example, there is no way I could handle a Ward vs Gatti type of fight, if the other guy just doesn't seem to be effected by my punches and comes back with his own punches then I sort of freeze.

Any advice?

21M, 5'10, somewhere around 155 lbs, currently train boxing and BJJ, but I have some TKD and like a week of judo experience. I'm VERY near-sighted and I was born with very poor depth perception. I'm also a little cross-eyed.

The first boxing style I learned and practiced regularly was the peakaboo. I spar with guys who are taller than me, though, so I often get blasted with shots when I'm trying to get inside. I've recently been also trying to incorporate the pendulum footwork of Dmitry Bivol, so I could step in and out of range, blast some combos or hard shots, and avoid getting countered. Having practiced this, though, I feel like my style has evolved into more of an aggressive outboxer style, where I'm usually throwing and taking a lot of shots, while still trying to bare in mind the defense and head movement of peakaboo. I like the pendulum a lot but I've always struggled with longer ranged opponents, so it's hard for me to exert pressure on someone bigger than me. Also, due to my depth perception, when I throw a punch (either in sparring or on my bag), I'm often a lot closer to my target than I intend to be and I don't fully extend my arms, which also leads me to getting pieced up.

I'm also not sure how this would translate into MMA, since that's what I want to fight in, but due to my current situation I'm kinda stuck just sparring with boxers. I would like to know your guys' opinion. Should I focus more on the peakaboo because it lets me get close and not worry so much about range? Should I continue to try and mix peakaboo with the pendulum step?

Would it be...

1. Doing the Muay Thai stance would make it easier for you to strike but you are susceptible to takedowns
2. The boxing stance would make it easier for you to punch and have great footwork but you are getting leg kicked
3. The Muay Thai stance but with your legs further apart so you can both strike and takedown.

I wanted to bring some attention to a promotion that I truly believe is going to breakout. Scott Coker is probably second to Dana White in mma promotions. The man made Strikeforce and Bellator skyrocket with his promoting. He has a new promotion once again in the Bay Area, backing him are the Skrap Pack team with Gil Melendez, Nate Diaz, Jake Shields, etc. On December 14th they will feature a huge card, I went to the first one and it was almost as theatrical as a ufc event, great production and not to mention I loved the vibe of them fighting in a ring as it it gave me nostalgia of pride fc. I think this has a very high chance of becoming the new strikeforce. A couple fighters I wanted to point out on that card are Daniel Compton who I think is ufc level ready, entertaining as hell to watch and throws straight heat. Joe Kropschot will get looked passed because of his record, he was inactive for a bit but accomplished great things in BJJ and honestly is one of the most ufc ready guys in all of Cali right now. Desiree Wodicker the Muay Thai queen has a pretty big following and is coming up hot right now. Jessica Clark is also competing in Muay Thai there now and running thru other girls. A sleeper too is a pro debuter who was ranked #1 in country as an amateur Kyle Clark who has insane KO power and wrestling pedigree. I would just check out the card man, you can normally tell when promotions are just waiting to takeoff, I think this is one of them.

For the mma fighters that didn’t lose in amateurs and won a majority of smoker fights they participated in how was your pro career? Additional question how much experience did you have in the different martial arts? Thank you!

Soon (next year probably) I am going to join and mma class, any help tips or advice you can share to a newcomer?

Hi guys,

Wondering who are some lanky fighters who are good at takedowns that I could study tape on. Jon Jones obviously comes to mind but who else? Obviously khamzat but I feel like it's very hard to try and emulate that kind of speed and athleticism he has. Jones is somewhat worthwhile as entering into the clinch and having more knowledge from there than your opponent seems viable but anyone else come to mind that's worth studying who was tall, skinny and perhaps more technical as opposed to athletic? (P.s. not saying Khamzat isn't technical of course he is but he is also freakishly fast.)

So I’m coming back to training after nearly 2 months off from an ankle injury sustained out of training. The ankle is completely fine, but where I was once a very confident and slick striker, I’m now really hesitant. This is especially with my kicks, as I tried to come back after only a month off, threw a calf kick in training that got checked and really hurt me. I took another month off to make sure I was ready after that, but now that I’m back, I’m almost scared to throw kicks at all. Even my boxing is off, I’m almost scared to throw any strike. It’s really disheartening as before my injury I was consistently levelling up every training session. My angles were on point, foot work, level changing, countering, everything. U had supreme confidence in my ability to strike, now I’m just so hesitant with anything.

I really don’t know what to do, it’s my first injury in just under 2 years of training. Any tips? I think shadow boxing will do me good again.

I have been doing boxing for a while and decided to try some MMA sessions. I went to my first session where we kind of just went through everything. We did striking and wrestling techniques. Obviously the striking felt natural due to my boxing and the kicks started to feel better quickly (although not too flexible). However the grappling and wrestling felt so awkward and i didn't really understand what i was trying to do. I was mainly just trying not to get caught in a submission hold which i did ok in. Theres just so much to tackle at the beginning, so i would love if any of you could give me an idea of what i should focus on first and how i can practice it?

Hi everyone, I (22M) have been training BJJ (mainly in the Gi) for 2 years and want to step up to a gym with more rounded training options(never done any striking before). I’ve narrowed it down to 2 but would be interested to get your guys thoughts based on the sessions I could get to:

Gym A: BJJ (Gi) twice a week; Muay Thai three times a week; NoGi twice a week; Wrestling once a week;

Gym B:
BJJ (Gi) once a week; Kickboxing three times a week; NoGi three times a week; MMA once a week;

Both gyms are an equal distance away from me and are part of the same BJJ affiliation. Gym A is more established and looks like it has a stronger Muay Thai focus with coaches from Thailand and students that compete in BJJ and Muay Thai. It has a full boxing ring but uses puzzle mats. It also looks bigger so would have a wider variety of training partners.

Gym B is newer and smaller and is more self-defence oriented, but they still have students that compete in BJJ/MMA tournaments. I’m not sure how useful their MMA class would be if I’ve not done any striking before. Gym B also has S&C classes. They also do belt gradings for kickboxing - is this a red flag?

My short term goal with this is just to have fun but within 5 years or so would like to look at competing in MMA.

I will obviously try both but want to know what to look for. Thanks for any input guys.

What makes, say, Jon Jones or Shavkat’s gnp so much deadlier than, say Merab or even Charles Oliveira? How are some fighters able to really pummel their opponents but others not? What skill is involved in GnP?

Just for clarification, I've been training for a year now and recently after my fight, I've been nervous to spar, because the guy that I'm usually up against always spars hard. I've been trying to train focusing more on my form, and when I spar with him, it's hard to keep him at bay without ending up on the floor! He's three years older than me and stronger, so what would be your best word of advice to help me improve... I know this may seem like a copy and paste question but I'm always nervous as hell.

I watched Whitaker’s interview after his fight against Chimaev. He mentioned Chimaev having a heavy sag which I have guesses at the meaning of based on context but I couldn’t find an answer online.

what are some things I can do to get better at wrestling specifically defending takedowns?

https://youtu.be/Q3HEjNW3UFc?si=zeF0AKs332_YrJIo