How To Become An MMA Fighter?
Let’s assume that you have firmly decided to become a pro-MMA fighter. You spent days and nights thinking, battling with your inner self, but in the end, being a fighter is in your blood and this job is the only one that could satisfy your adrenalin nature. But what are the steps that you need to take? How do you become a pro-MMA fighter after all?
The initial step is to develop physical and mental skills by training in an MMA gym. Or, you can choose to build a strong base in a martial art closely related to a sport like BJJ or Muay Thai. Then, after training for around 2–3 years, you can switch to MMA to develop all-around skills. After another 2 years (4 or 5 years in total), you may start competing as an amateur. This timing will depend on the person of course.
In an ideal scenario, you would have around 10 amateur matches before you turn pro and start competing in the regional circuit, but this is not mandatory.
Keep reading this article to learn more about what it takes to become a real MMA fighter.
How to become a professional MMA fighter?
Of course, this is a brief explanation and each individual will face different ups, downs, and turns on their journey. But the general concept and road of becoming a pro fighter remain the same.
What is the right age to start training in MMA?
In an ideal scenario, you would start training MMA between the ages of 13 and 16. This is a phase where the kid’s body starts rapidly growing, so it is crucial to start at this stage to develop the right body frame and skills. The truth is, there have been UFC fighters who started their MMA journey in their 20s. But the earlier you start, the better chances you would have to make a career out of it.
Do you need previous martial art experience for MMA?
No, you don’t have to be a black belt or skilled martial artist to start training and competing in MMA. However, since MMA is a versatile sport where you usually have to be an expert in at least two different fighting styles, having a martial art background is a huge plus. In an ideal scenario, you would have a strong base in one of the following four martial arts:
- Muay Thai (at least 1–2 years of experience)
- Boxing (at least 1 year of experience)
- Wrestling (high school or collegiate wrestling background)
- BJJ (at least 3–4 years of experience)
But even if you don’t have any experience and you are new to martial arts, don’t let that discourage you from following your dreams. There have been plenty of successful MMA fighters who came into the sport without any previous fighting experience.
Developing a base vs going straight into MMA
Most modern MMA fighters are experts in one martial art that represents their “MMA base”. They came into the sport as black belts in BJJ, pro boxers, or elite wrestlers. Over time, they add more skills on top of their base to fulfill all the holes and become all-around fighters. So, there are actually two roads that you can take.
The first option for you is to go and train in one martial art that plays a big role in MMA like boxing, BJJ, wrestling, or Muay Thai, as discussed earlier. After around 1 to 2 years of training (boxing; Muay Thai) or two/three (wrestling; BJJ), you can switch over to MMA. Doing things this way allows you to cut the learning curve and develop solid skills in 3 to 5 years of training.
The other option is to go straight into the MMA gym where each week you will learn all the aspects of the game. This is the modern approach that has many benefits, but also a couple of downsides. In short, you will learn all the aspects of the game under one roof, which allows you to quickly develop solid all-around skills.
Which road you are going to take truly depends on your personal preference.
What is statistically the best martial art base for MMA?
MMA is a combat sport dominated by wrestlers. One study has shown that wrestling has produced the most UFC champions in history, with BJJ being in second place. The majority of UFC champions or contenders have had some type of high school or college wrestling background. That being said, wrestling is the single most important skill in MMA, and with that, represents the best base. However, there are also a couple of other combat systems that have been proven to be very effective in cage fighting.
Muay Thai
When it comes to striking, fighters with a base in Muay Thai tend to be the most successful ones. This is mainly because Muay Thai fits perfectly within the concept and rules of modern cage fighting. It trains you how to use all limbs as weapons to strike with punches, kicks, elbows, and knees. On top of that, it also covers clinch fighting, which is crucial in MMA, and some basics of grappling like trips and throws.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ)
BJJ is the second-best (according to stats) martial art in modern MMA. It is so important that you can’t expect to compete in MMA without ground fighting skills, and it has been like that since the early days and Royce Gracie dominating the sport. In short, BJJ covers all the aspects of ground fighting like:
- positions (side-control, full mount, back mount)
- Chokes (rear-naked choke, D’arce, triangle)
- joint locks (armbar, kimura, kneebar, leg lock, americana)
- Takedowns, sweeps, trips, throws, escapes, etc.
Develop all-around skills
Whatever the road you decide to take, the ultimate goal remains the same: you have to develop all-around skills if you want to succeed. Or in other words, you need to cover the following five segments of MMA if you are serious about your career:
- Striking using all limbs (kicks, punches, knees, and elbows)
- Striking/grappling in the clinch
- Landing or defending against takedowns
- Ground fighting using positions and submissions
- Be in the best physical shape and have top conditioning
Sounds like a lot of work, right? The bad news is that being one-dimensional does not work in MMA anymore. Sooner or later, the lack of ground game or standup skills would backfire on you at some stage of your career. You will likely excel in one particular martial art, as all fighters do, but you need to cover other segments of the sport as well. Even if you have the best skills in the world, the lack of conditioning might cost you the win.
Do not underestimate strength and endurance
Spending at least one day of the week working on your strength and endurance is one of those things that separate pro fighters from amateurs. Endurance is one of the most important things in combat sports simply because all the skills and talent mean nothing if you gas out in a fight. To prevent this, you will do various HIIT and Crossfit workouts every week, and of course, running and weight lifting sessions.
The main goal is to develop a strong, functional, agile, and flexible body. As for the muscles, the key is to find the right balance between fast and slow-twitch muscle fibers. Or in other words, to develop muscles that will give you enough strength, but at the same time do not burn much oxygen. That’s why you won’t see MMA fighters having jacked muscles as most of them prefer to look ripped.
Train hard and dream big
MMA is the most versatile combat sport that is evolving at a really high rate. Unlike other in other forms of combat, you have to be an expert in multiple combat systems to succeed in cage fighting. This is very, very hard to achieve both mentally and physically. If you are serious about your career, you need to commit yourself 110% to training, and sacrifice a lot of things, including your relationship.
Each week of training is a mix of BJJ and wrestling classes for grappling, boxing, and Muay Thai for striking, and on top of that, you have the strength and cardio workouts. Classes are as intense as it gets, there is a lot of sparring, and grueling aerobic, and anaerobic workouts. Not many people can sustain such an intense workload, which is the main reason why so many of them give up on their dreams in the opening months of their journey. But, you won’t be one of those people!
No, you are going to fight through all the pain, injuries, lack of motivation, humble pies, and pressure and come on top. How long does it take to achieve this? Well, it depends on your talent, potential, dedication, passion, mindset, and many other factors.
Kick off your career in amateur competition
A lot of young MMA students tend to make the same mistake by going into competition too early. They tend to rush things which can only end in you losing the will to train, compete and pursue your dreams. That’s why you need to stay humble, listen to your coaches and senior training partners, and above all, be patient. The most important thing for you is to be on the right track, and your time will come.
When you feel ready, have a serious talk with your coaches about your plans for going into the amateur competition. They are the ones who know your strengths and weaknesses and have the right to make the final call. If they give you the green light, you are good to go.
This is usually a phase where you feel loose in sparring and capable of applying all the techniques in a freestyle fight without having any barriers in your mind. You have stamped all the moves into the muscle memory, have solid automatic reactions, and your body is conditioned to take punishment.
The concept of amateur matches revolves around learning and preparing you for pro competition. Matches are safe as there are less rounds and each fighter needs to wear headgear and shinpads, and the focus is on learning. No matter what happens in a match, take all the wins and losses as a lesson, stay humble, and always look for ways to improve your game. It is always better to suffer a couple of losses on the amateur level than as a pro.
Amateur competition, as a concept, is the best learning platform that gives you a great insight into what will come in the future. On average, aim at around 10 amateur matches before you can start thinking about turning pro.
Congratulations: you are now a professional MMA fighter
This is a stage on your journey where everything becomes harder, more intense, and the pressure significantly increases. All of a sudden, you need to train more, much harder, eat and sleep better, and like if you haven’t done it by this point, sacrifice even more things. But what actually means to be a pro-MMA fighter?
Prove yourself on the regional scene
In the initial stages, you will compete on the regional scene against opponents similar in skill and experience. These small shows are intense enough to make you anxious and teach you how to perform in front of a large crowd, with cameras, and tougher opponents than the ones you fought as an amateur. If you keep winning, expect to earn a couple of hundred bucks per match, which is often not enough to cover gym expenses. But on the other side, MMA is still a young sport and with a couple of dominant performances, you may expect to climb the lathers quickly.
Train even harder and sacrifice even more
To become a successful MMA fighter, you have to be a bit selfish and egoistic in some way. From the way you eat, train, rest, and deal with personal problems, or in a relationship, you have to always put your career in first place. If that means that you need to pack your bags and travel across the world to spend six months in one of the large MMA facilities to prepare for a match, you need to do that. Pro fighters, the ones at the top of the UFC, often leave their wives with children alone at home just to prepare for a match. Yes, this sounds hard, but, it is the price most fighters need to pay to succeed.
You will likely need to keep a day job
Fighter pay varies between the promotions. But while on the regional scene, do not expect to earn more than a couple of hundred per fight for your troubles, maybe up to a thousand dollars. In the best-case scenario, you will double that amount through post-fight bonuses, which would still not be enough to cover the training camp alone, not to mention other life expenses. Even when you reach the UFC, the newcomers earn less than $25,000 per year on average, which is almost twice as less as the average income in the US.
Or in other words, you will have to keep your day job which will bring the pressure to unbearable levels. Just imagine waking up at 6 am to train before working 8 hours and then training once again in the evening.
Have a manager run your career
Apart from top-level skills, each modern fighter needs to have some business skills to create opportunities and maximize the financial aspect. This is where managers kick in and their ability to run your career in the most efficient way possible. They are the ones who will do all the paperwork for you, answer all the calls, negotiate the best contracts, and do many other things. But above all, managers are the ones who have all the connections in the industry.
How to get in the UFC?
This truly depends on many factors like your talent, the place you live in, the gym you train in, and many others. Some fighters receive a call from the UFC after just a couple of dominant wins, while others may spend a decade on the regional scene before receiving a chance. In modern times, the UFC is looking for fighters who have:
An exciting fighting style
UFC loves fighters who have an exciting fighting style and are always ready to put on a show for the fans. Even if their record is not perfect and they have a couple of losses, the UFC will give them a call simply because of their entertainment value. The same stands for fighters who have a high finishing rate. They will always get the chance over the fighters who prefer to play it safe and have many decision wins on their records.
Focus on growing your social media channels
It’s not a secret that the UFC is all about the numbers. Even Dana White himself has stated many times how important the numbers are when it comes to social media. UFC likes fighters who arrive with an already established fan base across different social networks. This is a great indicator that they have the personality to promote the fight, and with the help of UFC marketing machinery, become huge stars in the future, and of course, generate high PPV sales.
You might not like social networks and posting every single day. But growing your official page has become an integral part of MMA in recent years.
Being loud works
Or in other words, talking a bit of trash and being a WWE type of entertainer works. Yes, this is a bit controversial, but, no one can deny that talking trash is a great way to put a spotlight on yourself, sell the fight, and climb the lathers faster. If you look back in MMA history, there have been examples of fighters who, apart from the great fighting skills, have built a career on trash talking. Colby Covington and Conor McGregor are great examples of that. As a newcomer, you want to stand out from the others and in this day and age, winning and finishing fights is simply not enough.
Move to train in a bigger gym
This is not mandatory, but, it has many benefits and it could boost your progress in the long run. First, joining a large gym allows you to train with the top-level fighters, who are already in the UFC. Though it is going to be hard and most of the time humiliating, training with the best of the best can only make you better. You will improve your game much faster than by training in a gym where you are the king.
Second, gym owners, coaches, and training partners all have various connections and can quickly spread the word about your talent and potential. Last but not least, big MMA facilities often have a team of expert nutritionists, coaches, and physicians which is always a plus.
Win titles on the regional scene
In the best-case scenario, you will become a champion in a regional promotion. First, this is good because it is easier for the UFC to promote you and build hype around your name. Second, the UFC has partnership deals with many small promotions where they guarantee their champion a spot in the UFC.
