Issue 011

June 2023

Professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter and former amateur boxer Ian Butlin has been boxing since his early teens. Along with his brothers Andy and Dave, both experienced MMA fighters, he now runs the well-known Quannum gym in Diggle, just outside of Huddersfield. 

I went over to visit Ian and discuss his approach to teaching boxing for MMA, and had the privilege of watching him coach people in the art of stand-up fighting. Ian was kind enough to share with us some techniques from boxing that can either be used in or adapted for MMA. 

On teaching beginners how to box, Ian has a slightly unusual approach compared to some coaches. ”I will always spar first to get a look at someone’s natural movement, feel what they have, how they move” says Ian. “I will feint, dummy and defend and let them work away. This allows me to see their natural ability and rather than start everyone from scratch and teach them what I want to teach them, I can start to build from where they already are rather than from the bottom.” 

”I don’t want to create robots who box just like me but rather individuals who move and fight as they feel comfortable. I have found this the easiest way to bring fighters on and also to blend the ranges. Body movement, hips and set-ups are the skill of boxing. I will always start with footwork drills, body movement and evasion in the same way a builder always starts a house with the foundations, to me it seems ridiculous to start teaching boxing with punches on pads.” 

On coaching beginners on how to adapt boxing into MMA, Ian simply follows the natural progression of a fight. “I will work striking and shoots, striking and clinch, detaching from clinch. Then onto grappling in clinch, takedowns and finally floor positioning and stand ups followed by pins and finishes.” 

So what does Ian think of the age-old question? If you were to take a boxer with good hands and teach them a few fundamentals of MMA, what are their chances in a MMA fight? “It depends what the few things you teach them are! I learnt groundwork first and then entered MMA, missing what I now feel is the key area of MMA- wrestling. If you look at my early fights I ended up working my guard a lot. I think it'd be hard to beat a good boxer who had just worked on sprawls, stand up and detaching from the clinch.” 

Technique One

*This technique is for use against Southpaws (those with right foot forward)*

1 : Ian throws a lead left hook to the head

2 : He drops his level slightly and throws a lead hook to the body

3 : He drops his level further and using a similar motion, hooks his arm around the leg for a sweep single but without a drop step

4 : Stepping off at an angle, he takes the leg, ready to finish the takedown or strike

Technique Two

1 : Natasha throws a straight right, which Ian slips to the inside with a small head movement

2 : Keeping hold of Natasha’s striking hand, Ian throws a left hook around the back of her head (designed to miss) and takes a neck tie

3 : Pulling her head down, Ian steps his back foot off at an angle 

4 : Where he can throw a knee strike

Technique Three

1 : Starting on the outside

2 : Ian level changes and moves in and feints a shoot

3 : As Natasha matches his level change to defend the takedown, Ian springs up with a lead uppercut

4 : Stepping his back foot off at an angle, he follows it with a straight right

Technique Four

1 : The two square off

2 : As Natasha dives for a single leg takedown, Ian does not sprawl

3 : Instead, he turns his leg in and drops his knee slightly, throwing a lead hook to her head

4 : Keeping his hands on the back of her head to stop he reattempting the takedown, he then pulls his leg free