Like wrestling it is a sport in which people train solely that modality since the age of like 5. The Mayweather Jr's, James Toney's, Pacquaio's, Cotto's, etc, are all fighters that have gone through the amateur's, Olympics, and early professional ranks with hardly a blemish on their record. It is extremely specialized and specific. Professional boxers with records of 15-2 would not last 2 rounds with many of the elite boxers. Elite boxers (Klitsckho brothers, Mayweather, Martinez, Pacman, Berto, etc) have reflexes, stamina, and skill far above other B, C level boxing competition. This is what they know.
You CAN'T be the highest level boxer and train other disciplines or you would lose your edge. With MMA, it is about finding the best "mix."
MMA started with "Style A Vs Style B" (Who is the best). So you had your boxers, kickboxers, BJJ, etc vying for the title of the "best fighter." With that, came the notion of fighting in MANY disciplines and figuring out "what is the right combination" to be the best fighter.
With that, over the past 20 years, we have seen the end of the BJJ is "king" craze that was established by Gracie family. We had the Dan Severn's of MMA come and show what high level wrestling could do, Mark Coleman's wrestling with GnP, Hughes furthering that formula, and finally we have what seems to be the current Mix: High level base wrestling and TDD to keep fights standing to strike and get the KO.
In about another 20 years, we are going to see MMA fighters that were wrestling, boxing, and practicing BJJ from the age of five. Will they be the absolute best in ANY one of those sports...probably not. However they will still be the best MMA fighters because to be the best in this sport...you need to be high level in many modalities.
I suppose you could take a fighting family like the Berto's, whose father was a wrestler and fighter, Andre Berto is a WW champ boxer (young) and a brother who is an MMA fighter. Andre could probably take on the challenge, train wrestling for a few years, and bring some heat to the sport with his outstanding chin, heart and ELITE level boxing. But that would not stand the test of time because you really need to be special on the ground AND on your feet. Andre would really just be Above Special (Gold Belt) on his feet...and average/good on the ground if he trained for a few YEARS in wrestling.
This is all IMHO however but I just don't see any ONE fight sport ever making a mark in MMA. The sport we see today will be FAR different in 10 years and we have been watching the trends change every few years anyways. Peace.
You CAN'T be the highest level boxer and train other disciplines or you would lose your edge. With MMA, it is about finding the best "mix."
MMA started with "Style A Vs Style B" (Who is the best). So you had your boxers, kickboxers, BJJ, etc vying for the title of the "best fighter." With that, came the notion of fighting in MANY disciplines and figuring out "what is the right combination" to be the best fighter.
With that, over the past 20 years, we have seen the end of the BJJ is "king" craze that was established by Gracie family. We had the Dan Severn's of MMA come and show what high level wrestling could do, Mark Coleman's wrestling with GnP, Hughes furthering that formula, and finally we have what seems to be the current Mix: High level base wrestling and TDD to keep fights standing to strike and get the KO.
In about another 20 years, we are going to see MMA fighters that were wrestling, boxing, and practicing BJJ from the age of five. Will they be the absolute best in ANY one of those sports...probably not. However they will still be the best MMA fighters because to be the best in this sport...you need to be high level in many modalities.
I suppose you could take a fighting family like the Berto's, whose father was a wrestler and fighter, Andre Berto is a WW champ boxer (young) and a brother who is an MMA fighter. Andre could probably take on the challenge, train wrestling for a few years, and bring some heat to the sport with his outstanding chin, heart and ELITE level boxing. But that would not stand the test of time because you really need to be special on the ground AND on your feet. Andre would really just be Above Special (Gold Belt) on his feet...and average/good on the ground if he trained for a few YEARS in wrestling.
This is all IMHO however but I just don't see any ONE fight sport ever making a mark in MMA. The sport we see today will be FAR different in 10 years and we have been watching the trends change every few years anyways. Peace.