MMA Stand Up

Some rare striking disciplines have throws to the ground, and when it is allowed, it is under a very special permitted condition.

Also, the scoring system can incentivize certain types of striking over others which would put you at a disadvantage in a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight.

Muay Thai for example heavily favors kicks over punches in their scoring. They tend to set up punches with kicks. They are allowed to catch a leg if a kick is thrown and shove the other leg but not to shoot a takedown. In the clinch, they can only use the inside of the thigh to throw someone to the floor.

The striking rules and point incentives define a type of stance.

In Muay Thai, it results in a very static stance, with 80% of the weight on the back leg, and a light front leg always measuring the distance just like a boxing jab, ready to block or teep (front kick to leg, body, or even face).

The traditional static Muay Thai stance in a MMA fight is a clear disadvantage since all types of takedowns are permitted.

Need to add some criteria in the striking stance to be able to sprawl and avoid getting ahold of from the person shooting, and to have good body weight distribution to stuff the takedown if gets grabbed during the takedown shot.

With a more active angle-changing footwork, the number of opportunities to shoot for a takedown reduces since the angles keep changing. The more efficient a fighter is with his angle-changing footwork, the lesser the chances are that he will even have to defend them with sprawls.

Boxing & kickboxing practitioners are much more light on their feet than Muay Thai practitioners. However, boxing does not have kicks and hence a boxer does not need to have a stance or an instinct to deal with them.

In the clinch, western boxers get separated quickly by the referee while the kickboxers are only allowed to give one knee before disengaging from the clinch or, as in Boxing, get separated by the referee. Both are not allowed to elbow strikes.

In kickboxing, kicks and punches are scored the same, the kicks are set up with punches with more footwork angles, which makes it less telegraphed and harder to catch (and shoot a takedown on in MMA), but yet, if caught, in the kickboxing rule set, it is not allowed to shove the other leg.

The takedown shot is very particular to MMA, and one must learn to have a good striking tempo to be able to understand at what moment a leg kick should be placed with the smallest risk of getting taken down at the same time. And if it is caught, the way to deal with it is different than in Muay Thai, since shooting takedowns is forbidden, while in Kickboxing rules oblige the leg to be let free before being to throw any type of strike back.

A striking specialist in MMA cannot be static, especially if he has a clear advantage in the stand-up, meaning the opponent would want to get the fight to the ground immediately. He would have to be constantly moving and creating angles.

Frequently changing stances has an advantage in MMA as it naturally creates angles, and keeps a more takedown inclined opponent at bate on which leg is forward for a potential single leg takedown.

Also, a striking specialist in MMA would want to throw hands successfully from a distance avoid the clinch (which in MMA could lead to a takedown) and maintain that distance with some specific technique, which is not taught in boxing since, like mentioned, the referee separates the fight in case of the clinch.

Apart from that, big gloves used in boxing/Muay Thai are not designed to be easily separated from someone trying to wrap your arm in the clinch.

All the main striking disciplines have advantages & disadvantages when it comes to striking in MMA, and now we understand why a Striking MMA class is needed for a slight adjustment for Mixed Martial Arts.