Bobby Lupo - Until MMA fighter are consistently able to fight without gassing (adrenaline dumping, lactic asidosis'ing and just getting tired) one round into their own sport, they will not be taken seriously as athletes. The majority of MMA fighters don't even have the capability to fight a 5x5 fight without an iron lung. This type of thing does not exist in other sports.
Most other sports do not require competitors to exert such high levels of effort at such a constant pace. You would not ask a sprinter to run at top speeds over long distances would you?
Every sport, at the highest level of competition has some competitors that are great athletes, and some that are just so so. It is no different in mma.
molsonman - So what would your definition of superior athlete be? The best at exercising or the best at a particular sport?
A superior athlete is well rounded in all areas and would probably be much better than the average in many sports if they trained for them. That being said, in many sports you can excel just by being strong in a couple of areas. That does not make you a great athlete or mean that you would do well in most sports.
For instance, in baseball you can excel just by being strong and having good hand eye coordination.
I think you see the best athletes being the most well rounded in their individual sports. Like a five tool player in baseball, or an NBA player who is on an all-defensive team and all-offensive team, or an mixed martial artist who is excellent at striking and grappling.
Bobby Lupo - Until MMA fighter are consistently able to fight without gassing (adrenaline dumping, lactic asidosis'ing and just getting tired) one round into their own sport, they will not be taken seriously as athletes. The majority of MMA fighters don't even have the capability to fight a 5x5 fight without an iron lung. This type of thing does not exist in other sports.
Most other sports do not require competitors to exert such high levels of effort at such a constant pace. You would not ask a sprinter to run at top speeds over long distances would you?
Every sport, at the highest level of competition has some competitors that are great athletes, and some that are just so so. It is no different in mma.
It is different in MMA because in other sports the guys have the necessary energy and preparation to compete at their own sport. In other professional sports, 1/4 of outcomes aren't determined by someone not being fit enough for his sport, but in MMA that number is probably a conservative estimate. The percentages of great athletes to not so great athletes is different. Vastly different
You guys know this.
This is a very good point, Lupo. MMA definitely has a higher ratio of not so great athletes, but if you are only looking at the very best guys at the top, mma still has some great athletes. This is probably why a guy like GSP has almost zero competition in his weight class.
Bobby Lupo -It is different in MMA because in other sports the guys have the necessary energy and preparation to compete at their own sport. In other professional sports, 1/4 of outcomes aren't determined by someone not being fit enough for his sport, but in MMA that number is probably a conservative estimate. The percentages of great athletes to not so great athletes is different. Vastly different
You guys know this.
In other sports athletes have A LOT of time to rest or take it easy. In football they are standing around barely moving for most of the time. In hockey they do a quick hard shift and then sit on the bench for a while. In soccer they lightly trot around until the ball gets in their area.
Bobby Lupo - Until MMA fighter are consistently able to fight without gassing (adrenaline dumping, lactic asidosis'ing and just getting tired) one round into their own sport, they will not be taken seriously as athletes. The majority of MMA fighters don't even have the capability to fight a 5x5 fight without an iron lung. This type of thing does not exist in other sports.
Most other sports do not require competitors to exert such high levels of effort at such a constant pace. You would not ask a sprinter to run at top speeds over long distances would you?
Every sport, at the highest level of competition has some competitors that are great athletes, and some that are just so so. It is no different in mma.
So you think MMA takes all out exertion for every duration of every round? Terrible analogy.
I did not say all out exertion. I said high exertion. The guys that gas so quickly are going very high exertion without any breaks for a large percentage of a five minute round. Other sports have timeouts, time in between plays, line changes, etc. The guys who go around in circles for 3 out of 5 minutes in a round are not the guys gassing out.
Bobby Lupo -It is different in MMA because in other sports the guys have the necessary energy and preparation to compete at their own sport. In other professional sports, 1/4 of outcomes aren't determined by someone not being fit enough for his sport, but in MMA that number is probably a conservative estimate. The percentages of great athletes to not so great athletes is different. Vastly different
You guys know this.
In other sports athletes have A LOT of time to rest or take it easy. In football they are standing around barely moving for most of the time. In hockey they do a quick hard shift and then sit on the bench for a while. In soccer they lightly trot around until the ball gets in their area.
Those are the rules of each individual sport and a professional athlete needs to be able to perform at his chosen sport. I'm not comparing apples to oranges like talking about Ultra Marathons or some shit like that. I'm just talking about being physically prepared for the sport they participate in
MMA is a little bit different than some other sports as your preparation can be vastly different than what you face in the cage, depending on your competitors game plan/intensity. Of course, the guys who do gas out quickly are probably not the best athletes in the sport anyway.
Bobby Lupo -It is different in MMA because in other sports the guys have the necessary energy and preparation to compete at their own sport. In other professional sports, 1/4 of outcomes aren't determined by someone not being fit enough for his sport, but in MMA that number is probably a conservative estimate. The percentages of great athletes to not so great athletes is different. Vastly different
You guys know this.
In other sports athletes have A LOT of time to rest or take it easy. In football they are standing around barely moving for most of the time. In hockey they do a quick hard shift and then sit on the bench for a while. In soccer they lightly trot around until the ball gets in their area.
In MMA you get 3-5 rounds of 15 minutes a piece with 1 minute rest periods. Not anywhere near as long as the other sports.
You get your 1 minute rest 3 to five times.
When you are grappling on the ground you can pull guard and conserve energy.
Fighters take large chunks of those 15 minutes off. If you haven't seen that then I don't know what to tell you but in the sports you mentioned no one is taking plays off to the level that MMA guys do.
I disagree. Even while conserving energy in the guard you are still working. A football player standing around doing nothing or a hockey player sitting down on a bench is resting a lot more than an mma fighter during a fight.
Fighters can't afford to relax that much during a fight. Have you competed in any of these sports or even watched them? There have been plenty of games where the defensive squad on an NFL team are gassed later in the game and getting beat. Watch what happens when a shift in the NHL gets too long. The players gas and can't keep up with the other team. These things happen all the time.
Bobby Lupo - Until MMA fighter are consistently able to fight without gassing (adrenaline dumping, lactic asidosis'ing and just getting tired) one round into their own sport, they will not be taken seriously as athletes. The majority of MMA fighters don't even have the capability to fight a 5x5 fight without an iron lung. This type of thing does not exist in other sports.
Most other sports do not require competitors to exert such high levels of effort at such a constant pace. You would not ask a sprinter to run at top speeds over long distances would you?
Every sport, at the highest level of competition has some competitors that are great athletes, and some that are just so so. It is no different in mma.
So you think MMA takes all out exertion for every duration of every round? Terrible analogy.
I did not say all out exertion. I said high exertion. The guys that gas so quickly are going very high exertion without any breaks for a large percentage of a five minute round. Other sports have timeouts, time in between plays, line changes, etc. The guys who go around in circles for 3 out of 5 minutes in a round are not the guys gassing out.
Ever think this is because they suck, don't know how to pace themselves and are not conditioned well for their own sport?
Does GSP go high exertion for the full length of the fight?
There's no comparison:
Bottom line is this- MMA athletes stink at their own sport.
If GSP face a guy at his own level who pushed the intensity, he might have to exert himself a little more.
I'm sure you would see similar outcomes in other sports if they were one on one. How do you think a guy like David Lee would do in a five minute one on one match with LeBron James that didn't have any breaks?
I do not believe for one minute that mma athletes are at the top of the food chain when you compare the ratio of great athletes to average ones, compared to other sports, but "gassing out" does not necessarily make you a "bad-athlete." And as I said before, the guys gassing out are clearly not the best athletes in the sport.
Bobby Lupo - There are no doubt MMA guys who are fantastic athletes and I'm sure that in a few years it will be closer to the norm rather than the exception. It took years for well roundedness to kick in. It took until Frank-Tito for the across the board realization that cardio, preparedness and athletic training were on par with skill and martial art training. It's an ever evolving new sport and as things evolve the participants will get better through MMA experience and years in the sport that will reduce the nerves that cause so much of the gassing problem
When athletes from other sports are not on the field of play (which is often) they are downing all sorts of energy type drinks or doing various recovery techniques. Also when they get tired they can go sit on the bench. Try doing that in an mma fight.
bsrizpac- everybody here has a different POV on this, as they should, being that the idea of athleticism is very subjective. From your responses, I have to ask, are you even a fan of MMA?
Id say mma athletes are #1 .the ones at the top i mean.its more than in ring.the diet the weight cutting.the training the work out schedule. Also the heart it takes to hang in there while taking a beating ,when you are in trouble the endorphin rush is hard to control witch tires you.mma guys are anaerobic and cataerobic . you guys compare the sports yet probably havent done them,witch is cool everyone has their opinion.it takes heart to take shots and give them not to many sports take take hits.theres usually very little rest time in fights. theres tons more i could go on.athletes i think are high are ironman and those environmental (eco runs) runners.
All the professional sports have scouts looking for talent at the amateur level. You have high school coaches running around trying to get kids who look like they have the right attributes to come out for their sport. There's guys like Dave Winfield who was drafted by the San Diego Padres, The Atlanta Hawks, and the Minnesota Vikings. More or less, somebody is looking for these guys. MMA is pretty much self selecting, you have to seek it out most times. Not to mention, most guys are not getting paid like an "average" pro athlete. Maybe if things become lucrative enough that it would be worth forgoing the millions a top player gets in basketball or football you'll see the talent. The lower weight classes have a better chance for the talent to come out, but why does Ray Lewis forgo millions in the NFL so he can get punched in the face?
