Issue 097

January 2013

Mixed martial arts has gone 360 degrees with today’s hottest new stars no longer fighters trying to be athletes, but athletes trying to become fighters

When you see a bulky behemoth deflate to the size of a pygmy following a barrage of strikes, the sight usually brings about two feelings. It leads to surprise, for a specimen so physically imposing should surely never turtle up after receiving punches, and also derision. Because, to fans, fighters are supposed to fight, and the idea of cowering up under fire just doesn’t sit right. 

But remember this: many of the so-called fighters we watch perform in mixed martial arts today are, in fact, not fighters in the truest sense of the word, but rather athletes. Super athletes physically blessed and equipped to try their hand at a number of sports, one of which happens to be professional fighting. But bona-fide fighters they most certainly are not. At least, not yet. 

Therefore, to watch a football player or professional wrestler get nailed on the nose and react in fear is to watch a young child shed stabilizers and then promptly fall off their bike. It is to be expected. After all, while the aforementioned sports may require some semblance of physicality and aggression, the art of punching and kicking should never be underestimated, and is something that takes men and women years to master. 

Alas, the theory a professional sportsperson can then cross over to the combat arts and expect to do justice to their warrior stripes is, frankly, foolish to say the least. They begin their quest with certain advantages – namely an edge in athleticism and discipline – but, aside from that, they are stood at square one, just as you or I would be if deluded enough to think we could trade blows with a seasoned boxer or go around kicking people in Thailand or Holland. 

Yet this is where we find ourselves at the end of 2012. This is what mixed martial arts has become. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, either. As arduous this has made the journey sound, there have been countless examples of successful transitions. We have watched football players make the move, college basketball stars and, of course, professional wrestlers. Most notably, Brock Lesnar, the former UFC world heavyweight champion and a man who singlehandedly edged the sport ever-closer to the mainstream. 

But even Lesnar, the all-conquering, lunch-box fisted freak of nature, still ended his reign curled up in a ball, fearful of punches and kicks coming his way. Not once, but twice. Of course, there is no shame in losing to Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem, but the manner of the defeats again shone a light on just how difficult some athletes find it to fully make the transition, to become fighters in the truest sense of the word, and to thrive on the idea of combat; whereby punches, kicks and every other part of one’s anatomy can be utilized to achieve victory.

Fit for fighting

It wasn’t always like this, remember. Many of the stars of yesteryear fought on a regular basis before eventually carving a legacy in mixed martial arts. Chuck Liddell, for example, began studying koei-kan karate at age 12, then strung together an amateur kickboxing record of 20 wins and two losses, with 16 wins coming by way of knockout. 

Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ went a step further, competing in K-1 and amassing a record of 40 wins and five losses, with 31 knockouts. From an early age they grew accustomed to hitting and being hit. So too did Wanderlei Silva, whose style was rooted in Muay Thai, kickboxing and, above all else, street fighting, as a teenage star of the vale tudo circuit. 

Even Randy Couture, the archetypal wrestler, did his fair share of boxing during a six-year stint in the Army, which stood him in good stead for when he later made the leap into mixed martial arts. None of these men were professional athletes per se. They didn’t throw balls, jump towards a rim or run track at any great speed. They were fighters. They simply fought.

The sport has now evolved, though. Nowadays, when you hear Joe Rogan pinpoint ‘athleticism’ as a heavyweight contender’s plus point, what he really means is they’ve come from a ball-throwing sport and are, therefore, if nothing else, extremely quick and agile. 

And there are many examples of this on the current roster. Matt Mitrione, Brendan Schaub, Shawn Jordan and Travis Browne, to name a few, all dabbled in other sports before turning their hands to mixed martial arts. 

Mitrione, Schaub and Jordan played football, while Browne was more at home on the free-throw line. They were athletes before they were fighters. They knew how to train, build muscle, burn fat and diet long before they knew how to throw a one-two. So, while the likes of Wanderlei and Mirko got to grips with the science of their sport over time, following countless ring wars, this new batch is studying the martial arts history video back to front, on constant rewind. 

A different kind of pads

The 29-year-old Schaub, aptly known as ‘The Hybrid,’ played professional football for the AFL’s Utah Blaze, and was also as a member of the Buffalo Bills practice squad, before embarking on a mixed martial arts career in 2008. A year-and-a-half later he was runner-up on The Ultimate Fighter season 10, losing only to Roy Nelson, a born and bred fighter, in the grand finale. 

His potential impressed the UFC, though, and he too was rewarded with a contract at the show’s conclusion. And he made the most of it, beating Chase Gormley and Chris Tuchscherer with one-punch knockouts, and then stepping up in class to thrash Gabriel Gonzaga and Mirko Cro Cop. In no time at all his power and, yes, athleticism, took the division by storm.

“I knew it would be hard, and something out of my comfort zone, but it was a challenge, and I was in need of a new one,” he tells FO. “I was always strong and athletic, that much was a given, but everything else I had to learn. I had to get to grips with the techniques, essentially learned to fight, and then use my athleticism and physicality to strengthen the process. 

“Soon into this process, I realized I could punch reasonably hard, and that also helped quicken it up a bit. Punch power is something you either have or don’t have, and the ability to switch off an opponent’s lights with one punch can really act as a bit of a short cut, for better or worse.”

Schaub turned out to be great at dishing out punishment, aided by his heavy hands, but less impressive when receiving it. In fact, after his initial flurry of four straight UFC victories, he suffered clean knockout defeats by both Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Ben Rothwell. 

Mitrione, meanwhile, is a former NFL football player, who played for the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings, and also appeared on season 10 of TUF. Unlike Schaub, however, he had yet to even have one professional MMA bout before entering the house. Therefore, with six UFC bouts now to his name, the Milwaukee-native is, for all intents and purposes, a product of the biggest mixed martial arts organization on the planet. Talk about a baptism of fire.

 “While some other fighters are given time to build and develop in the minor leagues before reaching the UFC, I have spent my entire career under the bright lights,” he says. “That’s a scary proposition for some, but it is also something that has presented me with many opportunities to grow and improve in this sport. I am basically learning on the fly, and I require a little more time in between fights to learn my trade. 

“I’m not one of these guys you’ll see fighting once a month. I need that training and preparation time, because I have to improve my game and keep up to scratch. One false move and I could get my ass handed to me and be given my marching orders. I am still learning and am still figuring out whether I’m even any good at this thing or not.”

Known for his honesty, Mitrione seems to be doing OK. He knocked out Marcus Jones, another former NFL’er, in round one of his official UFC debut, and then did a similar thing to Kimbo Slice, a former backyard brawler, in a fight that helped take his profile to the next level. He then scored a ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus for a three-round war with Joey Beltran, and also stunned both Tim Hague and Christian Morecraft with knockouts. Instantly, something clicked. 

“Most people would be thankful to have the opportunity to excel at one sport in their lifetime, but I’ve been lucky enough to have a stab at two,” Mitrione acknowledges. “I’m 34 years of age now, but feel like a baby in mixed martial arts. This sport has given me a new lease of life as an athlete and allowed me to reinvent myself. 

“I didn’t even jump straight from the NFL into the UFC, either. I had a two-year hiatus in corporate America. I’ve had three separate lives in many ways. I’ve been the footballer, the working guy, and the fighter. I’m incredibly fortunate that my body has been able to maintain itself throughout this journey and that I’ve had great people around me who have opened doors and helped me along the way.”

Mitrione puts the improvements down to good, old-fashioned hard work and claims his job was made tougher, not easier, because he came from a different sport. Furthermore, he came to the sport late, in his 30s, and was therefore lacking the early learning period many younger peers use to cut their teeth. 

“I approached this sport with fresh eyes and ideas and want to capitalize on everything out there,” he says. “I know time isn’t on my side and I know I can’t wait years and years to mature and develop. I need to make my move now and become the best possible fighter I can be. This is a full-time job and passion for me now. When I went on The Ultimate Fighter I had only been training for six months and was still finding my feet in the sport. I always attacked training with a passion and excitement, even back then, but now I’m able to do more of it, travel from gym to gym and work with the best in the business.”

Mitrione’s race against time was made all the tougher when Cheick Kongo smothered him to a three-round defeat last October. The loss marked Mitrione’s first as a pro and flagged an alarming amount of flaws. To the surprise of many, the former defensive tackle struggled getting to grips with the takedowns and wrestling of Kongo, a man primarily known as a stand-up kickboxer. Tail between his legs, Mitirone returned to the drawing board and effectively took a year out to work on what went wrong. 

Still, Mitrione and Schaub, if nothing else, are willing learners and dedicated athletes hell-bent on learning a new discipline. And for that alone they should command a great deal of respect. No, the pair may never climb the heights and dethrone Junior Dos Santos to win the world heavyweight title, but very few will. At the very least, transitioning athletes like Mitrione and Schaub offer an interesting story, engaging personalities and admirable work ethics. They are honest and self-deprecating and, just because they excelled elsewhere doesn’t mean they cross the street with any hint of arrogance or expectancy. Besides, that’s normally punched out of them on day one of training. 

In light of this, you can only suggest we welcome the natural, or unnatural, progression of athletes from mainstream sports to mixed martial arts. Rather than hurt mixed martial arts, it instead expands the talent pool, opens our eyes to new ways of training and, more importantly, opens the eyes of the world to the Octagon. 

Nobody criticized Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker’s move into mixed martial arts when he was pulling in healthy ratings on Showtime. Instead, we embraced the determination of the 48-year-old, reveled in his remarkable story and read as mainstream media outlets began to – shock, horror – actually report on the sport. 

Fighting Olympians

And the same goes for Olympians, too. Regardless of the sport, if an Olympian feels the need to pursue professional riches, and eyes up mixed martial arts as a potential avenue, the sport’s arms should be open wide. It’s worked out just fine for the likes of Dan Henderson, Daniel Cormier and Ronda Rousey. 

“Winning that Olympic medal both thrilled and scared me,” says judo exponent, 2008 bronze medalist and most recent Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Rousey. “Judo was all I knew and it wasn’t like I had a dozen guidance counselors waiting at the end of the Olympics to push me towards my next career. The Olympics was a bubble that allowed me to only think about what I loved doing: judo. I didn’t have to worry about paying rent, bills or any of that other stuff you concern yourself with in the real world. That all changes the moment it is over, though.”

In order to make money and eventually fund her MMA adventure, Rousey worked three jobs, including a stint at 24-Hour Fitness, and enrolled on what she describes as ‘the bomb shelter diet,’ which entailed going to Costco and buying hordes of food with no expiry date, then stashing it away. But excelling in mixed martial arts remained something tangible in her eyes. Light at the end of a tunnel. 

“I’d seen some of Gina Carano’s fights on TV and always felt I’d be really good at it,” Rousey adds. “I would watch the girls and be screaming for them to try different things on the ground. I knew I could hang with them and perhaps do things better than they were. I was seeing stuff that they weren’t seeing. I couldn’t believe that fighters in MMA knew so little about judo. That blew my mind.

“I wasn’t scared of the physical aspects of MMA, either. People forget that we get punched and kicked all the time in judo, but just never get any points for it. If you watch my quarter-final in the Beijing Olympics you’ll see me getting square punched in the face about 15 times. Those girls would try and kick you as hard as they could in the leg to get a foot-sweep. Judo is much rougher on your body than MMA is. Believe me, it’s a mean old sport.”

Rousey made the transition work. Many others have, too, but even more have stumbled and fallen along the way. Whatever the success rate, it’s a sign of the times that mixed martial arts, once a sport for fighters looking to become athletes, now plays host to just as many athletes looking to become fighters.