Mixed Martial Arts vs. Boxing: Who is tomorrow's champ?

Many boxing aficionados complain that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is overtaking boxing - but the question is why? Is it because MMA is superior to boxing?

I have an immense respect for the practioners of MMA - particularly when it was first introduced by Rickson and Royce Gracie (two men who weighed no more than 180 pounds) who showed the world how they could beat any man of any size with their art of Brazilian Jui-Jitsu. But MMA has evolved since, and as the strikers of MMA (i.e. karate, boxing, savate, muay tai, kung fu etc.) have learned how to grapple - or more recently learned how to evade grapplers - we are seeing strikers now come back into dominance. Strikers who many experts believe would not make it in boxing.

Years ago when the PKA (Professional Karate Association) first emerged onto the sporting scene - the first thing fans wanted to see was if a black belt could beat a boxer. The public - quite smitten with the media's esoteric portrayal of the martial arts, Bruce Lee and the like - was certain that Karate would prevail over boxing. Wrong! To everyone's surprise, semi-pro boxers were knocking out professional World PKA Champs. Soon after, PKA competitors started taking boxing lessons in order to improve their performance against other PKA competitors. In fact, punching became so prevalent over kicking in PKA competitions that the administration had to impose a minimum of 8 kicks per round in order to keep the karate match from turning into a boxing bout!

The reverse scenario seems to have occurred in the MMA where Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu proved its initial dominance over boxing, karate, and the other striking arts - that is until the strikers started to learn how to grapple as well. MMA champions and strikers such as Chuck Liddell, Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida know how to grapple, but prefer to evade a grappling situation if possible so that they can employ what they do best - strike! No pun intended, but "Evasion" is a trend that is taking hold. In fact, evasion is now considered a specialty that many pure strikers are solely seeking to learn in order circumvent the time needed to become proficient in grappling which in the past has been necessary for success in the MMA.

So if the art of evasion becomes the effective antidote to a grappler's attack - the question becomes will strikers - or those who are most proficient in boxing - eventually dominate the MMA? Will we have a similar scenario that we had in the PKA years ago where it's participants preferred to punch than kick? Where tomorrow's MMA participants will prefer to punch than grapple?

MMA has evolved immensely within the last 10 years - so much so that there has been a great deal of talk that it is anyone's guess where it will be in another 10 years. But with the current trend of strikers coming back into dominance - and the evolution of "evasion" - I think we may be getting ahead of ourselves.

I would most enjoy hearing everyone's comments. Everyone's contribution is most welcomed. If you would like to engage in similar topics like this, I invite you to our blog at www.magnusvermagnusson.com. Magnus ver Magnusson is ESPN's 4 Time World's Strongest Man Champion. Magnus and I devote our time to the training of serious athletes and martial artists who are seeking greater strength to enhance the performance of their chosen sport.

Yours in strength,

Coach Craig
Trainer of Champions

email: coachcraig@magnusvermagnusson.com
URL: magnusvermagnusson.com