Is the MT long guard underutilized in MMA?

[FIghtxIQ]

Thats untrue. You give up the single and double since one of the arms is nearer to the face and the other is crossing the body.
Philly is dependant on the upper body moving and the lower body being still. In MMA, the headkicks, the doubles and singles, the body kick and the sweeps are some well known counters to it. Especially against the cage.

There's a reason its basically non existent in MMA.

You can say the same thing about any stance in mma, yet fighters still defend takedowns. It's all in the micro-adjustments.

The reason it isn't used in mma is because not many in mma know how to use the Philly shell/shoulder roll effectively. Even in boxing it isn't used by a lot of boxers. It's not a traditional/textbook style.

 

[jojoRed]

You can say the same thing about any stance in mma, yet fighters still defend takedowns. It's all in the micro-adjustments.

The reason it isn't used in mma is because not many in mma know how to use the Philly shell/shoulder roll effectively. Even in boxing it isn't used by a lot of boxers. It's not a traditional/textbook style.

In boxing, its used by a lot more people than in MMA, since you only need to worry about hands. Its that simple.

Its also insanely difficult to master just for boxing but doable, modifying for MMA is asinine, since there are too many counters. Try it out in the gym, and you'll see how easy it is to dismantle by any competent sparring partner.

[I am definitely not a decent fighter lol].

 

[FIghtxIQ]

In boxing, its used by a lot more people than in MMA, since you only need to worry about hands. Its that simple.

Its also insanely difficult to master just for boxing but doable, modifying for MMA is asinine, since there are too many counters. Try it out in the gym, and you'll see how easy it is to dismantle by any competent sparring partner.

[I am definitely not a decent fighter lol].

Wrong. I use it with no problems. People just don't know how to use the Philly shell, you need a higher level of boxing in order to even attempt to use it. That's why it's not being used as much in mma. I use it all the time in mma, I also use it against every striking style there is - boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, TKD, etc. It's because I know the other styles as well so I can make the adjustments needed to make it work.

Dustin uses it with no problems. It's because he has the high level boxing that is needed to effectively use the Philly shell.

 

[shortlefthook]

High guard will always be king in mma, you utilize framing when necessary but cross blocks and high guard allow the most protection in small or
No gloves.
using your forearms / elbows when anticipating offense coming from your opponent is the most practical because you’re in good balance to defend takedowns as well

 

[tgo007]

Bumping because I think it's an interesting discussion.

Since then we've seen Strickland's shell. Topuria uses shell or high. Poatan's long guard. Yan high and long. Sandhagen long.

 

[HunterAcosta]

Yeah the striking in mma can still improve

 

[markantony20]

High level Muay Thai seems to be difficult to implement in MMA.

Not that it can’t/has not been done before.

With MMA now growing(to my knowledge at least) in Thailand we could very well see more high level MT in MMA.

 

[markantony20]

Yeah the striking in mma can still improve

Agreed, though it’s slowly getting better imo.

I think eventually some trainers/camps will figure out the golden ratio of training regiment to be able to improve all areas of combat.

I think a big problem is when new fighters start training many gyms have a hodgepodge of styles being trained without a proper overhead curriculum to teach fundamentals of all arts equally.

Of course however it’s easier said than done to teach a newbie all aspects of the game, and every individual will be more adept in one aspect more than the other with a few notable exceptions GSP, DJ, JBJ and such who can pretty much do it all.