How long does it really take an elite striker to train to crossover and dominate the sport of MMA?

[checktheknuckles]

Pereira and Crop Cop were not boxers. The question is an old one but its been brought to the fore obviously when the reigning undisputed lineal UFC HW champion who is mainly known for his hands gets flatlined.


A few months is a stretch. If training full time then maybe a year you could get by enough to compete and two years maybe make it to the top level I would say. I dont believe Alex Pereira really trained that long before switched over, and he was still fighting kickboxing during that time.

In watching some of Pereiras kickboxing fights, one of his opponents mentioned that Alex isn't a real kickboxer and is just a boxer doing kick boxing.

Also Stipe won the golden gloves , so his success in the UFC shows how boxers can dominate. I'd even wager that most elite boxers have amazing chins, which we don't see the same in the UFC. Ngannou has one of the best chins at HW and got easily put down by a boxer. Fury taking it seriously would have done the same as well.

 

[fjodor]

Not every elite striker can crossover and do well. Gökhan Saki, Tyrone Spong, Stefan Leko for example.

 

[BowserJr]

AJ would dominate everyone except Jones, Aspinall, Stipe, Blaydes, Jailton.

Of course Jones and Stipe are retired so only 3 guys to worry about and he'd probably never face them

 

[Vayn Sword]

All you need is gold belt level in grappling.

 

[bjjwar]

Difficult to say, look at the mma fighters even the champions have been boxing for their whole lives and they look like absolute noobs getting KO'ed left right and center by some youtuber.

 

[blaseblase]

All 3 guys mentioned have excellent kicking games. Different styles of kicking but excellent nonetheless.

I don’t think you can be considered an “elite striker” without at least a decent kicking game no matter how good the hands are. Assuming 34 year old Anthony Joshua has never thrown a proper kick like I’d imagine… I’d say it would take at least a year more likely two just to get comfortable with MMA stand up striking/defense and that’s factoring in his athleticism, talent and training/work ethic. Factor in that basic sprawl/defensive grappling and it’s a lot of holes to fill. MMA fighters chins may not hold up as well compared to boxers in general but a few leg/calf kicks would easily fold Joshua. You put up Joshua against a guy with zero take down threat like Cyril Gane and I’m positive Gane still styles on him even if AJ trained hard for 3 years.

Gane has a take down threat, he was getting multiple kind of subs early on in his UFC career.

 

[skylolow]

A gifted athlete with no ego willing to approach it the correct way probably about 2 years to 3 years.

 

[blaseblase]

In watching some of Pereiras kickboxing fights, one of his opponents mentioned that Alex isn't a real kickboxer and is just a boxer doing kick boxing.

Also Stipe won the golden gloves , so his success in the UFC shows how boxers can dominate. I'd even wager that most elite boxers have amazing chins, which we don't see the same in the UFC. Ngannou has one of the best chins at HW and got easily put down by a boxer. Fury taking it seriously would have done the same as well.

There's no such thing as a boxer doing kickboxing. Pereira utilizes kicks and Stipe was a D1 wrestler.

Ngannou's chin isn't the problem, his lack of experience boxing is. He was facing the number 3 boxer in the world for fucks sake. That is what happens when you put together freak show fights with massive experience gaps. Ngannou showed what his power can do when he landed on Fury. He didn't have the skill to land on a Joshua who was ready for him.

Until you actually see Floyd or any other boxer doing grappling you can't assume they would succeed at it. Grappling is an entirely different skill set. It doesn't matter how good they are at boxing, it doesn't translate.

 

[mmaElite53]

Jake Paul cleans out 185 with 8 months mma camp at ATT.

 

[meast]

I think it would be much more difficult for a pure boxer than an elite level kickboxer. 1 because kickboxers obviously don’t have to learn the kicking game and grappling. 2. Because kickboxers tend to fight more often. I think Pereira and Adesanya have done so well because they fight often and therefore always stay in shape

 

[Snoowpy]

Muay Thai and Kickboxing -> Boxing as a striking discipline though. Joshua would be dangerous though but he would need to have a Rassle' Boxing style or he's getting shot on or low kicked to death

 

[Kevster]

A fireman was called the UFC hw goat, yet some will act like it’s impossible a physical specimen like AJ could do it.

 

[checktheknuckles]

There's no such thing as a boxer doing kickboxing. Pereira utilizes kicks and Stipe was a D1 wrestler.

Ngannou's chin isn't the problem, his lack of experience boxing is. He was facing the number 3 boxer in the world for fucks sake. That is what happens when you put together freak show fights with massive experience gaps. Ngannou showed what his power can do when he landed on Fury. He didn't have the skill to land on a Joshua who was ready for him.

Until you actually see Floyd or any other boxer doing grappling you can't assume they would succeed at it. Grappling is an entirely different skill set. It doesn't matter how good they are at boxing, it doesn't translate.

And yet the kick boxer and commentators mention how Alex was more of a boxer than kickboxer. You can absolutely be a boxer while doing kickboxing. There are no rules saying you can't only use your punches. Or are you saying you know more than people who do this shit for a living? I also believe this was early in Alex kickboxing career when that statement was made.

Izzy and Alex both showed that you can come over with tdd and win the belt, even in two divisions. You ufc fangurls are insecure thinking that boxers could never get TDD. Ngannou and Gane only been training for very limited time and yet they were at the top of the HW division. Boxers won't ever come over to the UFC bc of how shit the pay is, but make no mistake, they can absolutely dominate in the UFC if they wanted too. But why take all that cte for 12k/12k? Ngannou made more money in 1 boxing match than he ever made in the UFC. That is the reason why you won't see boxers come over to the UFC. bushleague pay and racist woman beater boss in dana.

 

[moreorless87]

In watching some of Pereiras kickboxing fights, one of his opponents mentioned that Alex isn't a real kickboxer and is just a boxer doing kick boxing.

Also Stipe won the golden gloves , so his success in the UFC shows how boxers can dominate. I'd even wager that most elite boxers have amazing chins, which we don't see the same in the UFC. Ngannou has one of the best chins at HW and got easily put down by a boxer. Fury taking it seriously would have done the same as well.

In Stipe's case though I feel like his wrestling was a pretty big part of his sucess.

 

[Clark Rogers]

I don't think there's a way to quantify it across the board. Some pick up grappling quicker than others, understand positioning and control, leverage, others don't. I think you'd get wildly different results if you took ten different elite strikers and trained them all the exact same way for a year.

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

It depends on the boxer I believe. Not all boxers are built the same. But if it was Anthony Joshua, I think a year of training MMA disciplines. I think he can be very dangerous opponent. He has the physical tools to adapt to other disciplines imo. Although saying that a guy like Tyson Fury I doubt he can adapt as well, so he wouldn't do well in MMA.

Anyways that's just my guesstimation.

I think you’d have more chance at HW too, most stand and bang (avoiding guys like Blaydes and Almeida of course)

 

[ineverpost]

It is much harder to develop an effective mma game as a striker than a grappler. Being a good grappler automatically takes your striking up a notch. Also keep in mind that you only need one good punch to win a fight. In "striking" sports most guys end up getting hit but the gloves allow them to deflect shots and also absorb more than they could with no gloves. Even good strikers are at risk in a fight that stays on the feet. Case in point, Anderson Silva and Adesanya both got caught. I wouldn't think anyone would say Chris Weidman or Sean Strickland are better strikers.

 

[JudoJabs]

Muay Thai and Kickboxing -> Boxing as a striking discipline though. Joshua would be dangerous though but he would need to have a Rassle' Boxing style or he's getting shot on or low kicked to death

depends on the fighter.

MMA striking recently has been mostly boxing centric with boxing footwork and elements, adding in a low kick and some elbows ontop.

 

[barillas]

Quite a while. He lost to Ottoni (who to be fair has developed into a decent fighter himself over the years) and then it was a while later before he felt comfortable trying again.

Doumbe seems to be adapting pretty well he was doing better with Baki than I figured he would.

Thought theoretically it should be a bit easier for kickboxers to adapt seeing as they're already used to dealing with kicks, knees and elbows.

Alex wasn't training grappling in that first fight

 

[michi972]

However long it takes to get good TDD. I remember when Phil Davis trained Gus's wrestling up after beating him it took about 3 years to get him to where he was in the Jones fight. So in my head the answer is 3 years.

Yet Gus was already UFC level MMA fighter and had some grappling