Boxing VS MMA

Combat sports are some of the most brutal and beautiful displays of human athleticism. Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’ll be putting Boxing and MMA into the cage and closing the door behind them. For this showdown, we’ll be looking at which fighting sport comes out on top. We’ll consider five crucial categories. Round 1: Household Names As a world-wide sport, boxing has been around much longer than organized MMA. Throughout the history of boxing, there have been many famous names. Manny Pacquiao is a hero in his home country the Philippines. The pure, frightening knockout power of Mike Tyson is still talked about today, let alone the ear bite. Mohammed Ali is still an icon that is bigger than the sport itself. And names like Roy Jones Jr. and Floyd Mayweather are just as well known. On the other hand, the UFC in America has done a fairly poor job promoting its roster and fighters. Instead, it relies on fighters promoting themselves. This leads to a situation where the most well-known fighters aren’t necessarily the best; they’re simply the ones who talk the loudest. Conor McGregor is a perfect example of this. Though he is well known outside the MMA world, he’s lost some of his biggest fights. For being around longer and having more legendary names, this round goes to boxing. Winner: Boxing Boxing: 1 / MMA: 0 Round 2: Cross-Sport Appeal Boxing is a highly specialized sport. The skills learned from fist striking might be helpful in Muay Thai or kickboxing, but they have limited us in a sport like wrestling or swimming. Many athletes have tried boxing plus another sport, but few have been very successful at both. Punching just doesn’t lend itself well to football. Though, to be fair, agility, movement, and stamina are of course very important. And a football player does need to know how to take a hit and how to keep on going. Mixed Martial Arts is different. By definition, MMA is a mix of different disciplines. Many fighters in MMA consider themselves to be primarily one type of fighter over another, with other styles mixed in. Some of the MMA’s biggest stars have come from other combat sports and been successful. Brock Lesnar came from wrestling and was champion of his division in the UFC. Since MMA combines different disciplines, it has more cross-sport appeal, making it the winner of this round. Winner: MMA Boxing: 1 / MMA: 1 Round 3: Entertainment Boxing promoters definitely know how to put on a good show, seeing as the sport is one of the biggest around. But when it comes to the actual fighting, sometimes the entertainment value leaves a little something to be desired. To a non-fan, boxing might appear to be a lot of punching each other’ s gloves and arms and hugging every few swings. Of course, an aficionado will see the skill and strategy involved in even the most knock-out deprived matches. And when a big hit does land, boxing is very exciting. By virtue of the fact that MMA involves more than punches, it can oftentimes be more engaging. Kicks, knees, and elbows all lend themselves to more varied and interesting strikes and knockouts. They also do more damage by way of cuts, making MMA matching much bloodier on average. On top of that, submissions and chokes can also get the crowd going. And, with less time involved than in boxing, the action is packed together more tightly. Since MMA fighters have more tools at their disposal to beat their opponents, MMA wins this round. Winner: MMA Boxing: 1 / MMA: 2 Round 4: Skill As previously mentioned, boxing makes use of a much more limited set of skills than MMA. Because of this a boxer must really focus on and hone their craft. A boxer worries about movement, head bobbing, fist striking, and defense. By practicing their skills, they can achieve a very high level of proficiency in the sport. They don’t need to worry about other things like takedowns and kicks. It is a much more narrow craft than MMA. A mixed martial artist must master a variety of disciplines to be great, or to even compete in MMA. A fighter without a ground game will be dominated by a westling focused opponent. A wrestler who doesn’t understand Jujitsu might be surprised by an unexpected submission. An MMA fighter might be truly great in one area, but they still have to learn many others. MMA fighters might be more well-rounded fighters , but since they can’t focus in on a single area, Boxing wins this round. Winner: Boxing Boxing: 2 / MMA: 2 Round 5: Knockouts For our final round, we’ll be looking at knockouts. Let’s be real, one of the biggest reasons people watch combat sports is to see someone get knocked out by a massive punch, kick, or elbow. In boxing, knockouts pretty much come in one variety, the punching kind. Of course, there are uppercuts and jabs but those are still punches. When it comes to spectacular knockouts in boxing, we really only need to say one word: Tyson. This man was so strong and brutal that his knockout highlights are legendary. On the other hand, we have MMA. There are just so many ways to knockout your opponent in MMA. Big punches might be cool, but a spinning back kick to the dome is a show stopper. A sneaky knee or elbow to head is also cause for an uproar. However, since submissions are a part of MMA, knockout aren’t the only form of stoppage. Because of Tyson’s incredible power, we’re giving this to Boxing. Winner: Boxing Boxing: 3 / MMA: 2 There are the final results. In entertainment and cross-sport appeal, MMA wins. In household names, skill, and knockouts, Boxing takes the prize. Will MMA continue to grow and become a bigger sport than Boxing? Or will it become bogged down by immature antics?