Blunderhooks - Kalib Starnes runs about 80 miles a week.
I see what you did here... 
All these guys are right.
There's no instant gratification with running, there's no cheerleaders cheering you on. No announcers or fans screaming at your amazing play or KO.
It's all about you and how bad you want it, how much work you've put in, and how hard you're willing to go.
I've never had better cardio than when I've been running long distance.
If you never have to worry about your cardio, all you have to worry about is your technique. And your opponent's are screwed, you're going hard the whole game and not tiring because you're used to sustaining a high pace like that. People really do break like you hear Joe Rogan talk about when they're in the cage with a high endurance athlete like Nick Diaz.
Running is only bad for your knees if you don't do it correctly. Like mma, technique matters. It's a much better way to achieve fitness than biking, etc, and running at an aerobic pace actually prompted recovery while also conditioning the body to burn fat efficiently and to burn a higher ratio of fat to sugar
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DAVID H -OneGloveJimmerson - Sprints work best for the what is required in MMA! Its about working within you're explosive range and speeding up you're recovery time. You want to train you're body to be able to give the greatest amount of effort and then quickly lower you're heart rate back down and recover in that 30sec-1min time you have to rest. Everyone who is pointing to Boxers who run long distances do not comprehend the difference between the exertion in boxing vs grappling! I would bet good money that an elite wrestler could go longer before exhaustion practicing boxing than a an elite boxer could go in a wrestling practice.
You might not win that bet. I have seen many high level wrestlers/grapplers die after 1 round of sparring. I have also witnessed a high level amateur boxer tire out seasoned grapplers (although he did get tapped out many times) after a few weeks of learning the basics, due to his endurance.
When I competed, one of my nick names was the "energizer bunny", cuz I didn't get tired (standing or grappling). Everyone always asked me how I got my endurance and I told them running. Even after seeing me, some people still insisted running was not necessary.
Running takes heart. Yes, I also did sprints, but distance running was the key. Not talking about jogging around the park checking out the chicks (what I normally do now), but running 6 plus miles, with hills, at a 6-7 minute pace. That will get anyone in great shape.
Wow did you go 6-7 minute pace the whole 6 miles with hills? That's incredible.
Prime Mike Tyson was up every morning running:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8-ooWTkBvo
So did Dan Gable:
It is two a.m. Dan Gable can't sleep. He gets out of bed and does sit-ups and push-ups. It is eight a.m. Dan Gable is running several miles on a dirt road. It is one p.m. Dan Gable is lifting weights and punching the heavy bag. It is four p.m. Dan Gable is starting a 2-hour workout in the 95-degree heat of the wrestling room. It is 7:30 p.m. Dan Gable runs to the local food store, makes a few purchases and runs back to his apartment. It is 10 p.m. Dan Gable is doing isometrics in his apartment.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1086224/index.htm
Fedor ran several miles a day.
Here is what Alexander Karelin said of running:
I train myself 6 times a week. Usually on Mondays my mornings begin from running. I run in the pine forest in the suburb of Novosibirsk. My usual morning training goes on for an hour or an hour and ten minutes. The distance is a little more than 10 km. My evening trainings on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday constitute a work on a mat with sparring-partners. Wednesday is the day free, but we, wrestlers, have a very specific rest. We play wrestling basketball. It looks like American football, but we don’t use protective ammunition and throw a ball to a basket to get points. On Saturdays we play football (soccer). This is my usual regime. Trainings become more intensive during period of preparation to Russian, European and World championships and Olympic Games.
All in all, my wrestling trainings take 8-10 hours a week and more. However, everything depends on my condition and an opinion of my trainer Victor Kuznetzov who determines a plan of trainings and loads.
As I mentioned, running is a very important component of my exercises and trainings. Crosses help me to do my shape better. Special effect can be reached during series of trainings at the mountain sports bases. Good breathing is the component of a success for any athlete. Experienced wrestlers know that oxygen starvation can be a wrestler’s weak spot. This sense is very unpleasant.
Say what you will about Tito Ortiz, but his conditioning post-Frank Shamrock fight was incredible.
He would do 3-5 mile interval runs at altitude, in Big Bear.
http://www.ufc.com/news/Tito-Ortiz-Cooking-Up-a-Storm-Before-Farewell-Fight
too much other stuff to worry about then long distance running more then 2x a week in mma... training usually 2x a day wrecks you and then to run 5 miles a day on top of it is a good way to break down your body and it will be hard to recover.
Great thread.
12SixElbow -Boxers seem to do a lot more road work than MMA fighters.
Usually have better gas tanks, too
whoabro -in_different - Many dont run. Its not the same kind of cardio. Gsp said he only does mma training and gymnastics for cardio. Weightlifting for looks.
Running is kind of overrated. Great for the heart, but bad for the knees.Agree
Running kills my knees...a stationary bike is easier on the knees and good cardio
dahosse -12SixElbow -Boxers seem to do a lot more road work than MMA fighters.
Usually have better gas tanks, too
Solid argument as so many top boxers have shown great cardio in their MMA fights. Oh wait...
I remember Carwins training videos before the Brock fight he was up at dawn running every morning. I run but both sides are right really. You can get guys who come into bjj who run 10k several times a week and will gas in 3 times minutes because they dont know how to pace themselves or are just not used to it. Running is important but there are many ways to gain cardio for MMA. Most people gassing in the UFC in a round are doing so due to nerves/adrenaline dumps that go away with experience, or going nuts trying to get a finish in the first.
Caught_clean - I remember Carwins training videos before the Brock fight he was up at dawn running every morning. I run but both sides are right really. You can get guys who come into bjj who run 10k several times a week and will gas in 3 times minutes because they dont know how to pace themselves or are just not used to it. Running is important but there are many ways to gain cardio for MMA. Most people gassing in the UFC in a round are doing so due to nerves/adrenaline dumps that go away with experience, or going nuts trying to get a finish in the first.
But if you have marathon cardio, you would still have lungs after the adrenaline dump and nervousness goes away to put up a good fight.
Great thread.
What makes running so hard is that it is so boring. But it has massive benefits, as pointed out.
NorthFromHere -dahosse -12SixElbow -Boxers seem to do a lot more road work than MMA fighters.
Usually have better gas tanks, too
Solid argument as so many top boxers have shown great cardio in their MMA fights. Oh wait...
No top boxers in their competitive prime have dropped down to mma compete, so this comment makes no sense on any level.
KZTT_CodyLarge -in_different - Many dont run. Its not the same kind of cardio. Gsp said he only does mma training and gymnastics for cardio. Weightlifting for looks.
Running is kind of overrated. Great for the heart, but bad for the knees.I'd love to see the source of this. A:he runs, maybe not much but I've watched him to sprints. And B: no way the sentence "I lift weights just to look good" came out of his mouth lol
I've legit saw the video where he says about lifting weights for vanity.Will try and find it.
I think as others mentioned, running is great for losing weight or mental toughness and teaching your body to relax. I think it's also used largely in part (and especially with boxers) is because the old school guys did it so much. Eventually, I wouldn't be surprised if it's completely phased out as more modern training takes over.
It's a completely different cardio. One of the biggest aspects of an activity is specificity and efficiency. Running will make your running cardio better but will carryover to MMA cardio much less than just doing MMA based stuff.
I knew a guy who was a national distance running champ in college. He could run a 10k in under 28 minutes. Him and a buddy boxed for fun and after a minute, they were sucking wind and falling on the ground. His nearly world class endurance didn't help him a lick in boxing.
Maybe others disagree, but I think MMA guys running for purely a cardio aspect makes as much sense as the East Africans taking MMA classes to help their endurance in long distance running.
MMA is sometimes still stuck in the TMA magic thinking mindset where people believe there's a special secret to success out there. Guys would rather wear a scuba mask and trane, swing some big ropes, swing kettlebells, do gymnastics, crossfad or any other gimmick rather than doing the hard roadwork that will build a cardio foundation and mental strength.
Gassing in MMA is epidemic. It makes the sport look semi-pro at best--like a Toughman competition, rather than the truest of all sports.
Fighters should run more.
Imagine going to a restaurant and paying for dinner, and then the waiter tells you that the chef is too tired to send dessert out. That's what buying an MMA PPV is like.
MMA guys are definitely more open to trying different things and sometimes it does seem like they are looking for a magic bullet. Guys like BJ Penn are the worst for it.
"Gassing in MMA is epidemic. It makes the sport look semi-pro at best--like a Toughman competition, rather than the truest of all sports"
It does happen , but nowhere as often than you are making out. The only people who compare it to semi pro toughman are mma fans trying to seem more in the know than everyone else and undeducated boxing people who still think boxers are the best fighters.
It is harder to condition yourself for MMA than boxing, becasue it is harder to grapple and strike than just do one or the other. If you took any human being that has ever lived , it would be easier to get themselves in condition for pure boxing or pure wrestling than both at the same time for an MMA fight.
Fighting on your feet with punches and kicks and then on the ground and then back up again is harder than just fighting on your feet. In fact its much harder.
Then you factor in the nerves, what it can take out of when you get hit etc it is understandable people will gas sometimes.
Conbat sports throw up more things that can damage you and your endurance during the actual competition than any other sport, and MMA throws up more than any other combat sport.
Perhaps UFC should be like NFL the home of the greatest athletes of all time, and give the fighters oxygen in between rounds?