Issue 060
March 2010
There do fighters come from? Do they land in the ring or Octagon as fully fledged masters of combat? Are they created somewhere clandestine, trained in the martial arts for any number of years only to be released upon the world when ready?
Of course they’re not. As you’ll know, whenever we profile a fighter in this magazine we like to find out and describe how they came to be the athlete they are – we like to see what shaped them into modern-day warriors, what forged them into battle-ready entertainers. The more we know about their background, the more we hope to understand them. As every fighter is different, sometimes it is only their past that can give us clues as to who they are.
Every fighter has to start somewhere. Very few have ever stepped straight into a cage and made their debut in a major organization (in the modern era, BJ did it back in 2001, while Brock Lesnar had only one fight to his name when he signed with the UFC in 2008). For almost everyone looking to make their way in MMA, an amateur career is essential.
What exactly is an amateur career? In boxing, an amateur fighter fights under a similar yet very specific set of rules and must receive no remuneration for fighting. The different rules under which amateur boxers compete (fewer and shorter rounds and a different criteria upon which fights are scored) are there to allow fighters a platform on which to fight without the same level of risk that professional combat carries. Also, an amateur fighter will rarely be a full-timer; they will most likely have a day job that provides them with an income.
In MMA, the line between an amateur and professional career is very blurry. Whereas the difference between amateur and professional boxing is clear, MMA has no such established amateur circuit.
Every country, state, province, city and region seems to have its own definition of amateur MMA. In some places, the only difference between an amateur and a professional fight is whether the contest is officially counted on a fighter’s record. In some cases, it can be a case of money (if they get paid, they’re pro; if not, they’re amateur). Sometimes it may be that the rules differ – amateur fights tend to remove more dangerous, damaging techniques such as elbows or heel hooks – and sometimes it is the arena that is different; amateur fights may take place on an open mat whereas professionals compete in a cage or ring.
What constitutes an amateur career is a minefield of confusion for everyone in the industry, but one thing that almost everyone agrees upon is that an amateur career is essential.
A fighter’s amateur career is their education. The majority of the lessons may take place in the gym, but amateur fights are like exams or assessments. They allow you to test your skills in an environment slightly more forgiving than that of a high-pressure professional bout. The reason amateur fights don’t count on a fighter’s overall record is because they are considered as formative. It doesn’t matter as much if a fighter loses a few amateur bouts here and there – this is the time to make the mistakes, polish off any rough edges. By the time they become professional, they should have got used to the experience of fighting, but most importantly worked on their skills so that they are a well-rounded fighter able to handle anything thrown at them in the ring.
Everyone needs to start somewhere – in the aforementioned cases of Penn and Lesnar, both of them had extremely prolific grappling careers and fought at an elite level. They had to make adjustments to compete in MMA but were already experienced competitors.
The professional ring is no place to learn one’s trade. Fighters will develop, of course, but they should already be of a certain standard before even considering entering the pro ranks.
How does one know when the time is right? There is no hard and fast rule. Some fighters may need only a few fights under their belt before going pro. Others may need a couple of years’ worth of cutting their teeth before entering the paid ranks. A fighter’s coaches and managers will be the ones to advise when it is right to make that move.
For me, The Ultimate Fighter is a perfect example of why it is so important for fighters to gain plenty of amateur experience. There have been many examples, over the last couple of seasons, of men with no small amount of talent but little competitive experience who have been brought onto the show. The results often speak for themselves: sloppy, painful-to-watch fights that betray the inability of these men to compete in a pressured environment.
Would a doctor be allowed to walk into a hospital and start practicing medicine without having first undergone a lengthy period of training? Would a mechanic be allowed to start repairing cars without having first served an apprenticeship? Absolutely not – and fighters should not be allowed to fight professionally without having first worked their way through the amateur ranks.
