Boxing & MMA Are A Natural Pair

By Nolan Barias


While MMA offers fighters an opportunity to utilize a variety of fighting skills, there is no doubt that boxing is a big part of the sport. A strong punch requires less energy with more potential impact than other MMA skills. Many of the sport's top fighters have strong boxing skills and a few have professional boxing records. Here are a few MMA fighters with major boxing skills.

While Georges St.-Pierre never competed as a boxer, he takes his boxing skills very seriously. His trainer, Freddie Roach, is one of the best trainers in the world. St.-Pierre has won many fights using boxing techniques, including UFC 48 where he downed his opponent, Jay Hieron, at just 1:27 in the first round by knockout. Obviously, St.-Pierre did not earn his 22-2 record and welterweight title by boxing alone; he also holds an impressive array of black belts in three martial arts, including Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Kyokushin kaikan.

Anderson Silva might be known as a skillful Muay Thai fighter, but he also has a record as a professional boxer. He only fought twice, winning one of the two bouts, but it's still an impressive addition to an already distinguished resume that includes a 32-4 pro MMA record. Silva rounds out his skills with black belts in Judo, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Taekwondo, as well as a yellow rope in Capoeira.

Brazil has produced many of the sports best fighters, including former UFC light heavyweight champ Vitor Belfort. This versatile fighter not only boasts a 21-9 record in professional MMA bouts, he also took part in one pro boxing fight defeating his opponent during the first round in less than a minute. Boxing is part of Belfort's regular training schedule, as are other styles of fighting. In addition to his boxing skills, he is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, having studied under Carlson Gracie.

K.J. Noons, who trains out of The Arena MMA in San Diego, maybe be one of the most versatile athletes in the world. Not only does Noons have a strong mixed martial arts fight record (11-5), he also has a 12-2 pro kickboxing record and has won 11 of his 13 pro boxing bouts. More impressively, he was fighting in all three pro sports concurrently. He is a black belt in Kenpo Karate and also won a gold medal at the Long Beach International Karate Championships in 1997.

Learning essential boxing skills will improve the overall performance of any fighter, so if you are currently working toward a career in MMA, make sure you add boxing classes along with your Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai and wrestling classes. Select a professional-level MMA gym that offers a variety of classes, including boxing, for one flat monthly fee.




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