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Top 10 Reasons Why MMA Is The Hardest Sport

Photo by John McStravick

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mmachannel.com, its affiliates and sponsors.

Every sport is unique and consists of levels of difficulties and challenges. Becoming successful or mastering the one requires a tremendous amount of effort, dedication, and sacrifice. Whether it’s basketball or football, there is no easy way out.

However, when it comes to MMA fighting, most people underappreciate its difficulty. What’s more, some consider MMA as an inferior sport compared to others.

This couldn’t be further from the truth as MMA is arguably the most difficult sport in the world. The reason why most people do not see this way is that they do not know what it takes to become an MMA fighter.

Watching them performing inside the cage, one can quickly develop an incorrect perception about their lives and difficulties they are facing every day. No matter how tough you think you are, not everyone can compete in MMA. 

To prove our point, we have decided to dig deep into what makes MMA the hardest sport in the world and countdown the top 10 reasons that will certainly change the way you see the MMA fighters.

10. Fighters Cut A Lot Of Weight

Many MMA fighters cut a lot of weight before the weigh-in to be eligible to fight in their respective weight divisions. This is one of the hardest parts of the MMA game that doesn’t involve any fighting. What’s more, for many fighters weight cutting is harder than the fighting itself.

The majority of world-leading promotions like UFC have an eight-division weight system. The gaps between the divisions are varying from 15-20lbs. As a result, many fighters are putting themselves through hell and back to cut massive weight and compete in a lower division from their natural.

In a week leading up to a bout, fighters are not eating carbs, fruit, sugar or starches. Also, they are dehydrating themselves to lose weight as fast as possible. As a result, fighters can lose an astonishing 20-30lbs in a single week. However, extreme weight cutting is a massive shock for a fighter’s body and mind. We all remember the famous video of Cris Cyborg losing her consciousness, crying, and screaming during the weight cutting process.

On many occasions, extreme weight cutting can lead to serious consequences and even deaths! We all remember UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov experiencing life-threatening consequences after the brutal weight cut before UFC 209. Without a doubt, weight cutting alone makes MMA a very difficult sport.

9. Quick Decisions In A Split Second

MMA fight is a human chess match. Fighters are constantly reading each other’s actions and adapting to a variety of unexpected situations. In case the opponent switches up the strategy in the middle of the bout, a fighter needs to quickly adapt to new circumstances and counter in the most effective way.

Considering everything happens in split seconds, a fighter must know when is the right time to attack or back off. Quick thinking and concentration are a must because one miscalculation can result in a devastating knockout.

However, this is easier said than done. With thousands of people roaring inside the arena and millions watching the battle at home, it takes a special mindset to let everything go and concentrate on a fight.

What’s more, things get even more difficult when a fight is not going your way. With the back against the cage and lungs gasping for a breath of fresh air, one can easily enter a panic or survival mode. The difference between the average and successful fighter comes with the ability to promptly react, find the solution, and overcome these difficult scenarios in seconds.

8. Requires A High Level Of Conditioning

In MMA, endurance is the bread and butter of every fighter. While possessing elite striking or grappling skills is important, what is just as important is the ability to keep high levels of energy and strength over an extended period of time. What’s more, having top conditioning can make a massive difference in a fight.

It takes a tremendous amount of energy for a fighter to constantly move and switch between striking, wrestling, and grappling exchanges. Right from the first exchange, the oxygen will start to deplete from the body at a rapid pace. As a result, fighters with bad endurance will start slowing down and their chances of victory will diminish.

When basketball or football players get tired, they can call a timeout or request a substitution. In MMA there’re no such things, you either last until the end of a fight or not

On numerous occasions, we witnessed a fighter with elite-level skills gassing out in the opening minutes and becoming a sitting duck for the rest of the fight due to the lack of endurance. What’s more, these fighters are often overwhelmed by the opponent with less skill but with a superior conditioning. Some famous UFC fighters who have built their careers on top conditioning are Nate Diaz, Tony Ferguson, and Max Holloway.

However, improving conditioning is very hard, and it takes a lot of dedication and pushing your body and mind over the limits of sustainability. Fighters are spending many hours performing the workouts such as jump rope exercises, swimming, sprint runs, and high altitude training.

If you are an MMA fighter, check out Tips To Improve Endurance For MMA Fighters!.

7. MMA Requires Durability

MMA fighters are probably the most durable athletes in the world. It’s always fascinating to see them receiving a clean head kick and continuing to march forward. In MMA, fighters get hit a lot and it’s crucial for them to maintain the ability to shake the strikes off and continue. Without it, a fighter will crumble after the first punch.

When we receive a full-blown punch to the head, our equilibrium is rattled and we become disoriented. Also, if you recall any knockout, you may remember the fighter’s legs giving up first. Sometimes, the fighter falls instantly or goes on a “chicken dance” as Kevin Lee did against Edson Barboza.

In order to improve durability, fighters are focusing on strengthening the neck muscle groups by performing various exercises. The former UFC champion Tito Ortiz is probably the man with the biggest neck in combat sports history. Having a thick neck like Tito will prevent your head from violently snapping back when receiving the shot and the brain from moving all over the skull.

The truth is, not everyone can take a punch or get comfortable with receiving the hits all the time. Some fighters like Mark Hunt are simply born with the ability to sustain more beating than the others.

Many fighters try to improve the durability by intentionally receiving the punches to the head and body. However, this is not medically proven to work. Plus, there’re no clear methods or solutions on how to improve durability in spite of what many experts claim.

Also, mental toughness and strong physical attributes play no role in this as well. The reality is, not every human can take a punch and many MMA careers have failed because of this. That said, durability is one of the biggest reasons why MMA is so difficult and not every human can compete in it.

6. Need To Have A Strong Background In Some Discipline

If you want to succeed in MMA, you need to have a strong background in at least one fighting discipline. The majority of top fighters and champions have already come into MMA as accomplished athletes in different martial arts.

For example, elite fighters like Henry Cejudo and Daniel Cormier have a very strong Olympic wrestling background. Also, rising star Israel Adesanya was a multiple champion in kickboxing before switching to MMA, and Damien Maia is one of the most accomplished BJJ grapplers outside the octagon.

With their backbone skills in place, fighters learn and add other skills around their strongest skillset to best utilize their main skills.  This way, a fighter with a strong base can counteract the opponent’s best skill. In addition, fighters with backgrounds in combat sports maintain the ability to learn new techniques much faster.

Achieving high success in MMA is almost impossible without some type of strong martial art background. With almost every fighter possessing previous fighting experiences, you must be a rare talent to quickly learn all the styles and be competitive.

5. You Can Get Seriously Injured

Unlike in other combat sports like Boxing or Kickboxing, there are many different ways to finish the fight in MMA. The sport allows any athlete to throw wild strikes and submissions that can result in horrific injuries. Over the years, Muay Thai style emerged as the most devastating one. 

For example, Muay Thai fighter will put strong pressure on you against the cage and start targeting your face with brutal knees and elbows. This can lead to serious injuries like concussion and deep laceration. Furthermore, if the flying knee lands properly, the results could be devastating.

Speaking of knees and consequences, take a look at the brutal flying knee landed by Michael “Venom” Page on Evangelista dos Santos at Bellator 158. A strike fractured Santos’s skull and he was carried out of the Octagon and put right on the surgery table. Also, we all remember the massive blood loss from Chris Weidman’s skull after the Yoel Romero landed that famous flying knee.

Although these scenes are not glamorous, they are the main part of MMA fighting. You have to accept the fact that at some point, you will sustain serious injuries both in training and fighting. 

4. Fighters Must Be Mentally Tough

Mental toughness is probably the biggest weapon of any MMA fighter. Although this is often overlooked, many experts suggest that fighting is 90% mental and 10% physical. Basically, you can have all the skills in the world, but the lack of control over the emotions and focus can instantly affect anyone’s performance in the fight.

MMA is an individual sport in which all the pressure, fears and stress are on fighter’s mind. In basketball and football, players can split shame and blame between themselves. In MMA, you have to deal with this alone. A fighter needs nerves of steel and a big heart to successfully deal with the mental stress of adversaries.

Fighters may look confident during the pre-fight media work but the “fight anxiety” is the real thing. When you’re locked inside the cage with a man wanting to knock your head off, you’ll experience a high mental pressure of fighting. This represents the main reason “not everyone can compete in MMA”. Most of us will instinctively run away from any physical confrontation due to the natural fear of experiencing serious injuries.

Furthermore, fight anxiety will instantly affect anyone’s performance in a fight. Most commonly, this will increase the heart rate and the oxygen rushing through the body. As a result, a fighter will gas out very quickly and your mind will enter a panic mode. To prevent this from happening, fighters must have mental toughness.

3. You Have to Master Multiple Fighting Styles

MMA incorporates almost every hand-to-hand combat sport in the world. Training and becoming proficient in one fighting discipline is already very hard, much less achieving the same levels in multiple combat sports is beyond imaginable. However, to succeed in MMA, an athlete must be well-versed around different martial arts.

What’s more, a fighter needs to execute this combination of styles in harmony. That said, it’s not surprising to hear that MMA athletes are among the most talented and gifted athletes in the world.

Furthermore, you need to prepare yourself for all possible fighting scenarios. Whether it’s a Muay Thai fight on the feet or grappling exchanges on the mat, the one-dimensional approach simply doesn’t work in MMA. As a fighter with exceptional kickboxing skills, you still need to master Jiu-Jitsu and defensive wrestling techniques.

The same thing is true for a wrestler who can get destroyed on the feet by the Muay Thai fighter. No matter how proficient you’re in one discipline, the lack of a rounded game will catch you at some point.

MMA fighters must learn various styles to compete inside the cage and prepare themselves for every possible scenario. During the single week, they usually spend time mastering the following styles:

  • Wrestling
  • Muay Thai
  • Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
  • Boxing

 2. Keep Up With The Dynamics Of MMA Techniques.

MMA sport is still young and the fighting techniques are constantly evolving. As said above, fighters must learn various fighting styles to compete inside the cage. But, one must continue to learn different techniques that are utilized by other fighters. 

Unlike other sport like boxing, MMA is a dynamic sport that keeps evolving. Every year, we can see young talents like Yair Rodriguez or Israel Adesanya bringing the new elements of striking or grappling techniques. In order to stay competitive, a fighter must have the ability to follow the trends and add new techniques in their game as fast as possible.

Basically, there is no such thing as mastering in MMA. Being an MMA fighter is a continuing learning process. Logically, new techniques are a product of the evolution of training systems. This means you will have to spend more time and energy in the gym than you normally do. 

The reality is, what a fighter learned today may not be as effective in the foreseeable future. A fighter must be adaptable and open to learning new techniques to apply them inside the cage.

1. Possible Permanent Injures.

During their careers, MMA fighters are constantly putting their minds and body through huge stresses and injuries. Knockouts and broken bones in sparing and fights can lead to many long-term injuries and illnesses.

A study performed in 2014 indicated that the rate of knockouts and stoppages in MMA is higher compared to the other combat sports. Furthermore, fighters between 36-40 years are knocked out more often than the younger fighters.

All these studies are showing us that the brain and body are slowly giving up on the fighter over time. In addition, many other studies such as the one published by “International Environmental Research and Public Health Institute” are suggesting that the dangers of MMA can develop into Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

In 2013, the “American Academy of Neurology” investigated the connection between the duration of the fighter’s career and the development of brain injuries. The results showed the fighters with more than 5 years of MMA experience will lose critical brain capacity and with that the ability to memorize and learn things.